Once I had tightened the handlebars and secured the panniers, my first thought was to get some breakfast. Luckily there were quite a few places to choose from nearby as the drop-off point was just outside the toll booths at junction 41 of the A9 motorway, and in France such places are magnets for budget hotels, cafes etc. My route from there (and all subsequent routes) are on MapmyRide. At the time I didn't have a GPS, but was using a paper map. Unfortunately the scale was too large to show all the detail I sometimes needed, so that I did take a few wrong turns during the trip. As can be seen, the first mistake was right at the start where, in order to cross the River Agly, I ended up on a rather busy road (D900) for a bit. I had intended to go via Baixas, but for some reason or other I kept to the river instead, stopping in Estagel for lunch in a nice restaurant right in the centre. While there I phoned the Van Vliets (old friends and my hosts for the next two nights) to let them know where I was and my ETA. After lunch I headed south west, bypassing Latour de France (La tour is 'the tower' as opposed to Le Tour). There was quite a stiff pull up to the Col de la Bataille where I turned right for an easier climb to Belesta, a typical Catalan hill town. Great views of the Pyrenees from hereabouts, and on my descent from Belesta I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of the amazing rock formations of Les Orgues d'Illes-sur-Tet (see main photo here). Once over the River Tet it was plain sailing to the village of Catllar, but then there was a very steep unmetalled track to get to my hosts house. I pushed the bike up that bit! It was great to meet Dirck and Jennifer in their summer home (which they were in the process of selling).