Friday 15th October 2010

Well the day started off well, sunny morning, left the camp in good time and set off to find the D618. Last night we had looked at the map and found that rather than go all the way back to Perpignan, we could go a much more direct route along the D618, which even brought us in on the right road to the Aire we wanted in Amelie-les-Bains. Sure enough not far down the road off a large roundabout we found the D618, it took us into a village, but the signs said no entry for over 12ton lorries or vehicles exceeding 10m in length. As we came out of the village following the signs the road narrowed and then we saw the single track road leading off into the hills. We stopped to look for a way to turn round but that wasn’t going to happen unless we shrank into a mini! A couple of French young men walked past and seeing our hesitation stopped and said that it was OK big lorries go along it. OK then, can’t go back got to go forward!

Please bear in mind Sarah and I don’t like heights!!

The road was just wide enough for us to get through and as we climbed it had a rocky face to our right and a sheer drop to our left! It twisted through 120 degree bends and bridges (just wide enough) in between tight bends! We only just managed to get the rear end out before the front end hit the sheer wall of rock! First and second gear were the order of the day as we slowly crept our way up and down. We past a cyclist who had to stop and let us slowly edge past, but no other traffic for ages. Eventually we had a car behind us but we managed to find a wider spot just after a bridge to let the past. After what seemed like ages we had climbed really high and began to come down when we reached a small village and saw a road sign with our destination on it! Great! Must be getting close! Then we saw the 31 before it, Lynn looked at the map yes not yet a third of the way there yet! We slowly continued through stunning scenery I suspect, but I had my eyes (on 6” stalks) firmly on the road and Sarah was staring intently out the right hand side window! As we got about halfway and at our highest point I did see the snow capped mountains (God they looked close!) the road started to widen and you could let a motorbike past us if you were careful! We started to meet the odd car, luckily either at a passing place or near enough for them to reverse! Generally I stopped as far over as I could and they drove past at warp factor five, with inches to spare! After what seemed like a life time we came down again and entered Amelie-les Bains, a busy spa town. We found a large car park with several motorhomes in it, so we joined them and parked up to catch our breath! Bloody hell, don’t want to do that again! Oh and when you see us ask about the goats!

We went for a walk and found the Aire which was small and down a steep slope, not very inviting so we decided to stay where we were. Had a walk around the town which was very pretty and full of OAPs! I reckon the average age here is 80! Bought some local wine (5lts!) and french pastries to aid our recovery!