Today we conquered the Pyrenees, but we have not yet arrived in Spain. We are in the town of Banyuls sur Mer – a holiday seaside town.

This morning we were expecting an up and down coastal road into Spain. This is how the road started. However at one point it seemed to turn into a highway (going through a tunnel) and we opted for the mountain side route. This turned into a major climb up to at least 500m (later found out this was the Tower Madeloc road). Once we though we had reached the summit and went down a few hundred meters we turned a corner to see another climb to the next summit. It was an adventure with views like we have never seen – the coastal town, castles, vineyards with stone wall terraces and sea. This road was so narrow it was hard for two cars to pass and there was very little traffic. Also no other cyclists, but a few trampers.

We had a long and slow (winding) descent to Banyul arriving at around 2.30pm. By this point Jenny had had enough cycling for the day so we found a hotel in the middle of the town. The owner is very friendly and presented us with the specialty Banyul aperitif, which is a bit like Port, to relax us after our long ride. We had some more with our picnic supper on the beach front later in the evening.

We are now only around 10km from the Spanish border. Our journey today was 55km.

PS – Kris decided not to replace the bike yet, so we are still on the same bikes – but they are behaving well.