A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.
they're called Les Orgues d'Ille-sur-Têt. From here the descent steepens and becomes quite curvy, I could have gone faster but had a camper van in front of me that I couldn't overtake without taking risks.
After Ille-sur-Têt it was flat or even downhill to Thuir but the wind was very strong, at various points I was pedalling hard in bottom gear going downhill! Very depressing.
Thuir was good in that I found an epicerie that was doing freshly roasted chickens, and they'd sell me half a one. So, fighting the wind that was threatening to blow my chicken away, I ate it and half a baguette in the shade of a tree just on the outskirts.
The ascent to here was endless, steep mountain road with curves up through pine and holm oak woods, and very hot too. I was so glad to get to this point and the almost 10km of descent to St Jean Pla de Corts, which I took slowly and savoured, was great with views of the Pyrenees and the sea.
Click on this small thumbnail picture to see a larger one of a different view.