June 6, 2018
Day 3 - St-Paul-de-Fenouillet to Perpignan
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Today's goal was to get into the center of Perpignan. To avoid main roads, I had routed us up and down some back roads. But in the morning, we weren't feeling like climbing so much. So I overrode my route plan and we shot down the main road toward Estagel.
It was a quick transit to Estagel. We had some roadwork to contend with but, as usual, the French drivers were courteous and gave us lots of room.
We got off the main road in Estagel and headed up a beautiful valley to the Col de la Dona. After yesterday's big col, this one wasn't much, but it was still good to see the sign at the top. Time for a water and cookie break!
We descended the col, passed through a wind farm of giant propellers, and entered the outskirts of Perpignan. Lots of twists and turns on the route, which our navigation system handled with aplomb. Eventually, we got to a city limit sign! Destination achieved!
Then my poor route planning got us into trouble. The idea of going over the pedestrian bridge into town was a good one, but I didn't realize that it wasn't bike-friendly. We had to cart the tandem up and down a double series of steps. The path wasn't very wide, either, but luckily we didn't meet anyone coming the other way.
We found our hotel "Comfort Hotel Centre Del Mon" which to my surprise was in a shopping mall overlooking the train station. But true to form, they found a closet to hold the tandem and we were in our room overlooking the train station within minutes.
We cleaned up and went out in the rain to have a look around.
We came back to the room and rested, then set out again for the center of town for dinner. We had dinner in the "Halles Vauban" - a great option for a casual meal and drinks.
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 122 km (76 miles)
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