Monday, September 17, 2012


Thursday 13 September 2012 Paziols France

Helen, Rod Lyndsay and I up, breakfasted and out of the house by 8.45 am and drove to Villefranche de Conflent about 11/2 hour drive south west into foothills of the Pyrenees, which is a walled town.

Spent a couple of hours in the town, walked the ramparts and had picnic ( with great bacon and egg pie cooked that morning by Gay) in the square. 





 

Then headed to the station to catch the 13.50 pm departure of  le Train Jaune for a 1 ½ hour  ride up the mountains to Font -Romeu on a high plateau and then back down again. This train has been running for more than a hundred years.



We had been well instructed on need to get to the station early to be at head of queue so we were able to get seats at the back of the open wagon so that we could get good views all around. Seats are wooden slatted so a bit hard on the backside after 3 hours. Interesting to note that even tho the sun stayed out the temperature dropped so much by the time we reached the plateau at the top that I needed to add  a jumper and parka to the T Shirt I had started the journey in.

 

Most amazing views as we passed through forested areas with deep gorges, open farmland and a number of small towns and villages, some perched precipitously on the edge of steep cliffs.

Arrived back at Paziols about 7 pm where there was a very strong north westerly wind blowing. The house  was relatively calm and  sheltered from the wind as on eastern side of the hill but when I was up on top of the hill attempting to take photos it was very difficult even to hold the camera steady.

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