Thursday 15th Narbonne to Girona (165km)

The weather has improved since last night so after breakfast I had a quick look around the town. There was an amazing Cathar castle in the town square as well as a section of the old roman road that ran from montpellier to barcelona. After yesterdays wind I was praying that today it would be in my favour,and too my delight it was. The scenery south of Narbonne is attractive and at various stages I could see the med sparkling away in the distance. It was 75km to Perpignan and I was able to get there by lunchtime. I had spent a night in Perpignan a few years ago and didnt think too much of the place although it looked reasonably pleasant as I rolled along. It was now 2pm and I still had to cros over the pyrenean pass. The last thing I wanted was too be stuck up in the mountains as night fell. A sign said Girona 85,and I new from previous trips that the Dalian town of Figueres was about 40km north of Girona so if I could just do 45km over the next 3 and half hours I would be safe. I stopped at a petrol station for a power lunch that included a large Yop Energie to give me strenght. The first 20km out of Perpignan were flat and the scenry beautiful. At over 10,000 feet Canigou, the sacred Catalan mountain dominanted the mountains ahead. As I got closer I could see the small villages up high in the hills. Within 5km of the border the road began to rise. It was a gentle climb and only lasted 4km until I got to the french border town. So in the end I needed have worried about the mountain pass and there was no need for my Yop energie . These border towns most have thrived in the pre EU days but this one looked a bit tacky and was full of off licences. I could see the big advantage of frech booze prices over spanish. But there is a big difference in Petrol prices with france at 1.40 a litre and spain at 1.10 so the garages on the spanish side were busy. I though it was windy on the french side but my god the wind was seriously strong over the border. At one stage I got on my bike and without pedalling i was pushed along at 35km and hour. Thankfully it was in my favour and so I whizzed along and made it to Figures by 4.15pm. Delighted with progress I decided to take the gamble of being able to make it to Girona 42kms south in the hour and a half of daylight left. I began to think this was a mistake on the ring road of figueres where I was now facing a different direction and had to get off the bike a number of times for saftey. The sun began to dip and I still had 25kms to go. On came the luminous yellow jacket and my back blinking light and with head down I pushed on through arriving with only the last half hour in darkness. Girona looked likea very prosperous place as I cycled in. One thing it seemed to be short on was hotels and the only ones I could find were full. This was the first time this had happened on the trip. I had always assumed that I could turn up and get a room. One receptionist gave me a list of hotel numbers after I inferred that there were not enough hotels in Girona. I phoned a pension in the old town and too my delight it had a room for me. The reception was on the 2nd floor and when I rang the bell an old man brought me up a further 3 stories to my room. I was almost out of breath but he seemed fine. I mentioned that I had a bike and the response was 3 euros. So for 3 euros I got the job of carrying my bike up 5 flights of stairs after a 165km day. I was tired and after a some peanuts and a pint in an Irish pub accross the way fell asleep for the next 9 hours.