Ceret - Sunday Drive

We woke to a cool (it never got warmer than 6 degrees today), rainy day. Mum and I picked up the Saturday Telegraph (on the croissant run) and that, and a few cups of coffee, is how we spent our morning. After lunch we decided to drive to Villefranche de Conflent to check out the schedule of the traine jaune. We took the yellow train up into the Pyrenees last time we were here and it was a lovely ride on a narrow gauge railway through some wonderful scenery. We planned on going again when Aimee got here at the end of the month.
We drove up "over the hill" into the next valley over. We are in the Tech River Valley. The next river (to the north west) to make its way down from the mountains is the Tet River. Initially it was very similar to the plain below Ceret, vineyard after vineyard but then these were interspersed with orchards and they were in blossom.


We were not on a major road and it wound from one small town to another through vineyards and orchards until it was just orchards on both sides of the road. Mostly pink though a scattering of white. The different varieties of trees (I think they must be cherries) have slightly different coloured blossoms so the sea of blossoms ranged from very pale pink to a deep fuchsia colour and every shade of pink in between. I'm not sure if the drizzle made the colours brighter or if it would have been even more brilliant in sunlight but it was breathtakingly lovely.
There were places along the way advertising fruit, vegetables, escargot and chaine neige. We were on a major route to Andorra and you need snow tires or chains on your tires up there at this time of year.

Pale Pink Lace

When we got up the valley to Villefranche (its in a narrow gorge) we drove to the train station and I went inside to get a schedule. None to be found. I finally found the station master. So sorry, the yellow train doesn't work until April 11th. Oh, disappointing, but I'm glad we found out now rather than looking forward to it for another couple of weeks and then finding out.

On the way back we stopped for coffee at an old hotel and looked out the windows, across the
river valley, to this village climbing up the hillside to its church at the top.

The trip back was just as lovely.

Emergency flashers on and hopped out of the car to take a close up.

If it hadn't been raining there would have been more pictures.

I'm guessing that the orchards need the more fertile soil of the river valley and that the grape
vines are quite happy on the rocky hillsides.

When we got home I noticed that one of the little fruit trees in our garden
has started to blossom.