Our longest hike of the season - Amelie Les Bains to Montalba

Saint Jean Pla de Corts is a great base for walking and I

There's not much at Montalba 

have blogged several already. Today's was our longest hike since leaving the UK in October. We didn't walk as far as on some of our summer expeditions, however after 11km and with over 300m of ascent, Dave and I are feeling both weary and very pleased with ourselves right now! We were walking for four and three-quarter hours, including quite a few photo stops, and got to see some of the most fantastic views in the area. Several times I thought that I must start taking Dave's big camera on our hikes as my phone really isn't up to the job of capturing a wide panorama. One day I will remember to think about this before we set out!

We nearly had a disaster before we had even extended our

Amelie Les Bains from half-way up the hill 

walking poles. Our map, got from Amelie Les Bains tourist office several weeks ago, indicated that we should park in the multi-storey General de Gaulle car park. On arrival, this car park was completely closed up for the winter break. The what?! It turned out that from the 14th December until the 31st January all the paid parking in Amelie is suspended so the multi-storey was closed, but the roadside car park was open and its Pay And Display machines covered with black plastic. Result!

Starting by ascending the Chemin du Pastou by the General

Woodland path above Amelie 

du Gaulle Parking, we walked alongside the high stone wall of the Hopital Thermal des Armees and on into woodland with lots of cork trees, the occasional olive tree, and huge boulders by the path side. The ascent was pretty much relentless for the first hour to the extent that Dave was a little concerned about his pumping heart rate. (He checked online when we got home and it probably shouldn't beat quite that fast at his age. Oops!) The path was mostly quite narrow and definitely a footpath rather than a vehicle track. We had lots of steps created with rocks or roots and it was beautifully peaceful. Being overtaken by a fell runner - yes, running up! - was mildly galling, but otherwise we had the walk to ourselves.

Uphills do eventually end and this one was almost

Our picnic view of Montalba 

immediately replaced with an equivalent downhill. We got closer to the river which flows along the valley floor and is more of a stream at this time of year. It is tumbled with rocks and boulders which created dozens of diddy waterfalls and, at one point, a deep-looking swimming hole. We ended up right alongside the river for a short almost magical section listening to the babbling water. Then we had to cross to the opposite bank - a tad precarious! And as the river turned away from the path, we saw the remnants of old agricultural terracing on the hillside above us and realised that Montalba was up at the top. Of course! Yay!

Arriving in Montalba two and a half hours after setting out

Cross at Montalba 

from Amelie, we laid out our picnic rug and paused to enjoy the view from 543m above sea level. Not quite as high as our Campanilles picnic last March and considerably chillier. The hamlet seemed to consist of two farmyards, the one pictured above with its chapel and another a couple of hundred metres away. This was also a junction of footpaths including the PR-1 and had a running water fountain of (presumably) drinkable water. I saw this simple cross too. It has a name plaque in the centre which is worn, but I think said 'Laurent Coste 1859'. I haven't been able to find out anything about it online though.

The map had our return route as retracing our steps, but

Old footbridge viewed from the road 

did also suggest walking the road as an alternative possibility. The road is mostly only wide enough for one car and seemed very quiet so we thought we would be ok going this way and it actually turned out to be a perfect contrast to the outward route. Walking to Montalba we had to spend much of the time watching where we put our feet and were often between trees or at the bottom of the gorge. Walking back we could trust the road to be smooth and there were gorgeous long views up into the mountains and along the valley. The road was mostly flat or gently downhill but took a longer route so we didn't expend as much effort, but did still take two and a quarter hours to return to Amelie.

I joked that we could treat ourselves to a cake when we got to town, expecting everywhere to be very closed as it was now late on Sunday afternoon. We got lucky though - a patisserie was open and had a delicious selection of gateaux so we brought a couple home. Dave had a Foret-Noire slice and I had a Paris-Brest eclair. Perfect!

Le Petit Prince by Andres Munoz 

St Jean Pla De Corts to Amelie Les Bains - a superb cycle route

An overcast start that turned into another glorious day and we took

advantage of it today to cycle from our St Jean Pla De Corts campsite all the way to Amelie Les Bains, a distance (we think) of about 14km each way and almost entirely on the Voie Verte which is the superb cycle route we followed in the opposite direction on Tuesday. There's apparently over 300km of this particular route in total.

We joined the Voie Verte a few minutes from the campsite and were immediately taken away from all the traffic on a bicycle and pedestrian only path that leads out into the countryside. We passed the Chateau d'Aubiry again and it isn't possible to get close enough for a decent phone photo, but Wikipedia has a good picture. The route surface is mostly newish tarmac or concrete and, other than a few very steep inclines away from fords and the like, it is practically flat. We got to the next town, Ceret, far quicker than we thought we would so decided to extend our ride to Amelie Les Bains. We paused for a few photographs in Ceret though.

There is a trio of bridges over the majestic river Tech in Ceret. This

Three bridges in Ceret 

photograph is actually taken from the most interesting of the three - the 14th century Pont Du Diable which at the time of its construction in the 1320s was the largest bridge arch in the world. The arch is an incredible 45.45 metres across and 22.3 metres high. These days it is only open to pedestrians and cyclists with other traffic being directed across the much newer, 1939, bridge next door. The third one in the picture is for the railway which was completed in 1883. An information board by the Pont Du Diable displayed a painting by Auguste Herbin who visited Ceret in the 1910s and 1920s. To be honest, if it hadn't been for the board's location and description I would not have recognised the bridge (or even that it was a bridge!). We plan to return to Ceret to see more of the art trail around town and also to visit their Modern Art museum.

The Voie Verte uses a dismantled railway line for much of its distance

Pont de 19 Aout 1944 

between Ceret and Amelie Les Bains. I didn't like cycling across the old railway bridges as they were high with low fencing either side! At one point the route goes through this Pont du 19 Aout 1944 which you can see in the background behind its memorial plaque and stone to the Resistance fighters who confronted a convoy of German trucks here. The link above goes to a French blog talking about the bridge. We didn't know to look for the bullet holes until I began researching information back at home.

Parts of this bit of the journey were suddenly very cold as we found ourselves under the cliff face. I don't think the sun gets high enough to warm the air there at any time of day in winter!

Once in Amelie Les Bains, we stopped on a sunny bench to enjoy our apples and ham sandwich before visiting the Tourist Office for yet more walking maps and the Post Office for a few stamps. We treated ourselves to a coffee too, but didn't have any proper exploration time as we had to start our return journey to guarantee being home before dusk. I must put those lights on my bike! I need to do a bit of servicing on it too. We had to stop during our last ride as one of my front brake pads came loose, and today the spring that holds the centre fold together came undone. I thought the bike felt a bit odd for a while - it was trying to separate in the middle!

Dave zooming ahead!