Ceret - Prats de Mollo

Cold, cloudy, windy and occasional drizzle. OK not really cold, 10 degrees. I decided to take a walk this morning anyway and note the indicators of spring.

Almond trees are starting to blossom. The cherry trees have nice fat buds but they
are not there yet.

I had to post a picture of the goats as Chris loves them and comments on them every time.
They weren't particularly interested in me today, too much hay.

Canagou was magnificently covered with swirling clouds.  Unfortunately that also
meant that the wind was bouncing off Canagou and coming back to where I was walking.
I revised my plans and headed back down to Ceret.

The Mimosa has been in flower since we arrived but now it is so full that it is
massive banks of yellow. Some of it is beginning to turn brown, past its prime. 

In town, there are Magnolias in bloom. Lovely.

After lunch, it was still a bit dreary so we decided to go for a drive. We went out of town in a different direction and followed a winding road up the narrow, steep valley with the rushing River Tech at the bottom. It was actually a very good road, room for 2 cars and fun to shift between 2nd and 3rd gears and swoop around the mountain edge. It was 20km or so up into the Pyrenees with small towns strung along the valley on the way, to Prat de Mollo.

It has a small old section with tiny streets, terraced up the hill side from the river and a
very old church.

Mum and I decided to walk up to the fort while Dad and Joan stayed in the car reading.

Aside from being steep it was an easy walk and we watched the village, nestled down in the valley below,
get smaller and smaller.

We could see watch towers on the surrounding hills

and just beyond, snow covered mountains.

We knew the fortress wasn't open for the winter and that it was going to be too cold and windy
 to walk the ramparts so after about 20 minutes we turned around and went back to explore
the village a bit.

There are extensive fortified walls

and the ancient church. The door was locked with

a snakes head bolt.

It was a very picturesque place but too cold to sketch so we hope to return in better weather.