Ceret - last market day and windy Queribus with Aimee

Last market day today, sad, but fun to show Aimee.

We tried this a couple of weeks ago, tastes like a combination of cauliflower and
broccoli, so we got another one today.

Hadn't noticed these in the market before, tiny little VW bugs, 2CVs, camper vans (complete with roof racks)
and motorcycles all fashioned out of tin cans.

Great Dane at the Grande Café

Last time to buy a Poulet Roti and because Aimee loves potatoes we also got the
pommes de terre that are cooked below with the chicken dripping on them. Dad was happy!

Drinking coffee at Le Pablo we were entertained by this young Siamese trying to
escape from the balcony.

He checked out the nearest tree, next balcony, downspout. When he's a little older they will
come home and wonder how he escaped but for now it was all too big a jump.

We packed a picnic (hard boiled egg, fresh carrot from the market, fresh apple fritter from the market, fresh sugared ginger from the market) and set off over the hills to Queribus.

We ate our picnic in the car. It had been gusty windy in Ceret but here it was wild and the lady
we bought the ticket from warned us about the wind and told us to take our sun glasses off. She
was right, they would have been blown off our faces.

We climbed up the trail (pretty easy though steep), then the stairs (pretty easy though steep),
then the zigzag stairs (so attackers could only go single file) (rough going and now the wind was
buffeting us), more stairs with a rope banister (we held on, hand over hand, as the wind howled),
through the narrow archway entrance (the wind literally blew us through the doorway), more
stairs but now we were around the other side of the castle and sheltered from the wind - whew!
 

I hadn't realized how much of a problem Aimee had with heights until I noticed
she was plastering herself to the inside wall and made a comment about the
difficulty of climbing stairs with wobbly legs.

We explored all but the top of the tower and at times had to crouch below the level of the
parapet to protect ourselves from the wind.

Aimee Todd defeats Queribus!

We drove home with the most fantastic views of Canigou and snow covered Pyrenees behind. Orchards and vineyards along the way. Much of the blossom had finished and the fruit trees were leafing up now.

Our route took us through a number of these areas with Plane trees
on each side that restricted the width. We loved the sign.

Home to wine, cheese and olives in the garden.