Girona to El Port de la Selva - Looping the Pyrenees - CycleBlaze

May 24, 2024

Girona to El Port de la Selva

Our exit route from Girona was more pleasant than our arrival route, but not as nice as my arrival from Sant Feliu de Guixols in 2016, when I took the Ruta del Carrilet. Unfortunately, that would not be the correct direction today. 

We rode on the C-66 highway for a few km, along with several other cyclists, all going faster than we were. We got off the highway near Celrà and started down a narrow paved road through the fields.  The surface deteriorated for a couple hundred metres, though, and the warning sign “pas inundable” was accurate. 

Pas inundable
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It wasn’t much further on that we missed a turn (for the first time of the day).  Of course it was raining and we weren’t going to backtrack; luckily it wasn’t that challenging to get across the railway line a bit further on.

After a coffee stop in Colomers, the world looked a little brighter
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When we missed another turn, we made the best of it, avoided a few km of highway riding, and detoured to the beach for our snack. 

We made it to the Med! The groomed beach at Empuriabrava.
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Karen PoretWow! That beach has real sand artwork!
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5 months ago
We didn’t venture onto the sand.
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Empuriabrava is full of vacation homes along a pattern of canals. What was there before?
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Leaving Empuriabrava, we soon joined our planned route on C-260. We turned onto GI-614 after 3 very long km, but the traffic on that was was still much more than we’d prefer, even after the last turnoff toward Roses.

There were a significant number of cyclists pedalling up and zipping down this road, which leads both to Cadaqués and to our destination, El Port de la Selva. The scenery through the Parc Natural del Cap de Creus was the best of the day but there weren’t many good places to stop. 

Looking back down at Golf de Roses from about halfway up
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On the high plateau
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There’s a vineyard up there too. Zoom in to see the traffic.
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Flower of the day: Spanish lavender. This is the first I’ve noticed and I’m glad I did on my last full day in Spain (for a few weeks)
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At the turnoff. It’s an 8 km descent from here!
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We’re here! This is actually the view from our room.
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That’s our little terrace, just above the highway sign.
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This cannon, named Bayarte, was found off Punta Blanca in 1964 on a “routine diving trip” by a group of coral fishers, at a depth of 45 metres. The cannon had been cast in 1787 in Seville using Mexican copper to make th3 bronze, all as engraved on the piece. It was likely part of a ship’s cargo.
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It always astounds us that there are still fish in the Mediterranean after thousands of years of fishing. Photo taken from the seaside path in El Port de la Selva.
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Boats, El Port de la Selva
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Looking west in the early evening, El Port de la Selva
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Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 977 km (607 miles)

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