day 9 - carcassonne to le boulou
route
DAY 9
Initially we head east out of Carcassonne, trying to avoid the very busy main road as much as possible. We take the quiet D303 through a mixture or residential fields and light industrial for about 4km, before following the busy D6113 for a few hundred yards, then taking the D3 to start a day spent in the very attractive foothills of the Pyrenees.
This is wine growing country and we picked up a few crates of very good red wine from a local vineyard for 4 Euros a bottle (having a van can be useful).
From about 40km to 60 km the route tends gently uphill. On out first trip, wehad just past the top of ascent when we came to one of many “route Bareé” signs on the trip. Our general policy was to ignore them believing you can get past most blockages on a bike. It looked like the diversion would add several miles to the trip, so on we went. We went mile after mile downhill, gradually getting worried that we might have to retrace our steps up the climb; after 9 days in the saddle we didn’t have much spare energy. When we finally reached the problem, it was a bridge that had been completely washed away. Luckily the river was dry and we were able to carry our bikes over. There is a nice new bridge in place now:
The route descends gently for about 20km before flattening out. There are a few more centres of population and even a little light traffic as we bypass Perpignan to the west, but it remains quiet until the last couple of 2km into Le Boulou.
