Ille-sur-Têt to Belvianes-et-Cadirac

May 28, 2024

Today was the kind of day we came here for, though we could have done without the all-day headwind. I suspect it’s a common feature!

First, though, I promised a bit more about last night’s accommodation. Mas Tramontane was one of our more expensive bookings but very nice. If only we had had the weather to enjoy the pool and garden. It would be a perfect place to laze away a rest day. The hosts, Manu and Valérie, are very friendly and Manu is a cyclist—when he has time. I think the B&B keeps him pretty busy.

The central terrasse. We had the room through the arched sliding door on the right, in the shadows this morning.

I was intrigued by the large tree on the right in the above photo. Here’s a close-up of its leaves and berries

We opted for the B&B’s breakfast since the place is a bit out of town and we really prefer to be able to eat in our town clothes and brush our teeth before setting off on the day’s ride. But when did some “Bed and Breakfast” establishments stop including breakfast? I knew when I booked but still, I always wonder…

The breakfast included muesli and yogurt (yay!), a very good croissant and pain au chocolat each, excellent bread (some of which we packed away since the food was set on the table for us only. Sadly, the coffee was from an automatic drip machine.

Breakfast included a bottle of really good local apple juice. But what are “Canada” apples?

Bellies full, we rejoined D2 and once again got tangled up in Ille-sur-Têt. It seems D2 is being resurfaced in this area, with the new chip seal on the climb and descent yesterday, the new surface heading west of town, and the dug-up and temporarily closed stretch through town. We finally decided to ride through the old city centre with its narrow medaieval streets, which are asphalt and not cobbles. No tourist shops either…

There’s a mirador above town that gives a good view over both the hoodoos we saw yesterday and these. That’s the Canigò massif in the background.

Another green-topped distance marker for cyclists. Strangely, they are on the opposite side of the road as you climb.

Manu had mentioned that several commercial cycle tours visit the area; I think we saw one as we were working our way around the closed bit of D2 this morning. Perhaps the local tourism authority is trying to promote road cycling here.

Lovely D2. We have been counting down its km since yesterday and will go all the way to 0 today.

To introduce the next photo, you can see that the second climb of the day was the big one. Although there were no markers like on the first climb, we expected that D2 would originate at the height of land, which would also be the border between two départements. About at km 4, I stopped to take the photo above, and had only ridden a few metres before what looked like tiny purple candelabras caught my eye beside the road. By the time my brain processed it, I’d rolled past and decided not to go back. I spent the next 2 km looking in the verge for more. Such a distraction from the effort of climbing.

Flower of the day. I’ve no idea if these are buds or past blooming, but it’s definitely eye-catching to a slow cyclist!

Finally at the top, there was no summit sign, just what you see in the photos below. D2 was a beautiful road, especially its narrow sections, though even the wider parts with painted centreline were low traffic.

Looking back as we leave Pyrénées Orientales

Then there’s this, below the actual high point. I think it’s at the change in slope on the profile.

The descent was somewhat bumpier than the road we had climbed, but the views more than made up for it. It was also noticeably cooler and greener on this side.

The pretty village of Montfort-sur-Boulzane had a table and a couple of benches where we are our bread and cheese and chocolate.

What’s that up there? Château de Puilaurens! We didn’t ride up, though theoretically we could have.

Zoomed in; this is the closest view I got!

Note to any touring cyclists who might want to visit Château de Puilaurens—D117 to Quillan isn’t pleasant. But we rode past a hotel in Gincla, 6 km before we came to the turn to the castle, that looked very nice.

D22 ended (?) and we had to turn onto D117, a much busier road, being the toll-free connection to Perpignan, the biggest city in the region. Of course, first we had a small climb.

Then we finally came to the good part, the narrow Défilé de la Pierre Lys. Fun, but too narrow and busy to stop for photos, though. We didn’t go all the way to Quillan, instead stopping at Belvianes-et-Cavirac, where I’d booked us a room with breakfast tomorrow and dinner tonight.

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Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 1,173 km (728 miles)

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