Céret in the French Pyrenees

Amalfi seems a long time ago. Since then I’ve had a week in the Pyrenees and am now in the South Tyrol. Before I get on to writing about the beautiful Dolomiten mountains of the Tyrol I need to report on my week in the Pyrenees.

 This year was the 8^th year in succession that I’ve taken the ‘Pacemakers’ away for a hiking holiday and they have become close friends in that time. It’s always lovely to meet up again (usually in ‘departures’ at Stansted Airport). Every year it’s somewhere new and I was confident that we’d all love our stay near Céret.

Hotel Mas Trilles

I’d discovered the Hotel Mas Trilles which is a beautiful retreat down by the Tech River a couple of miles outside Céret. Even better were our perfect hosts, Amparo and Stefan who went the extra mile to make us welcome and smooth our progress through the week. The food has always been an important part of our trips and this year our tour of the best restaurants in the area included Le Bartavelle in Argelès Sur Mer, Atelier de Fred in Céret and 66 Sur Vins in Maureillas las Illas.

But the walking is what we go for. My favourite walks were the contrasting mountain walk on Canigou and the rocky Catalan coastline.

Carpets of wild flowers

We didn’t climb to the summit of Canigou, which would be a bit hardcore. Instead we walked a small loop from the Refuge of Batère. An eagle circled over the shoulder of the mountain as we set off, climbing steadily through carpets of flowers – a lofty ridge walk with spectacularly open views all around.  A storm broke on the heights of Canigou although it never spread to our part of the mountain.

Climbing towards Canigou

And two days later we were on the coast. The walk began with a hitch as we’d hoped to take the train from Port Vendres to Banyuls sur Mer.  A train driver’s strike put paid to this plan but we were not to be denied. On a scorching hot day we upped and downed, passing rocky coves and steep cliffs and sandy beaches. Coast walks can lead the uninitiated to imagine a flat progress but they can be quite vicious! 

Another 'undulation' on the coast path

We stopped for a swim half way along and it felt quite difficult getting started again after lunch.

So that’s a brief summary which can’t quite do justice to what seemed a wonderful escape. Where are we going next year?