At first light the hills are still blanketed in mist. With the cool and damp weather we decde not to visit Foix or Mirepoix, but drive to our endpoint near Perpignan.

We have to drive through Foix for the service point. It has a large chateau [not accessible] and a busy bustling centre which would be nice on a sunny day.

The route out follows the river for a bit then we rejoin the D117 and will stay on that road for the next 80 miles. The scenery along its length is a real mixed bag. Early on we are in rolling hills with sparse woods. Then there are some climbs and descents through little one-horse villages and a few small towns. The Col de Teil is moody in the mist, with visibility down to 70-80 metres ar times. But as we descend again the vistas are beautiful.

We stop for lunch near Nebias. By now the sun is beginning to break through and we notice the colour of the landscape is changing from dark, woody greens to light pasture and maize again. Trees are less dense, and lighter colours too, plane and silver birch. Houses are no longer dark stone, but mostly painted cream with ginger pantiles.

The ride to Quillan over the Col du Portel is breathtaking; hairpin bends with sheer drops looking down onto little toy-towns on the valley floor. We drop into Quillan and start along the valley road, through a short tunnel, the Trou du Cure, into the Defile de Pierre Lys [which means narrow passage of the rocks of Lys].

The road winds through a deep cleft alongside the river Aude. Sheer cliffs tower up on either side and in places the rock has been blasted away for the road, leaving huge overhangs and a couple of arches. We park in a layby and study the colours and patterns in the rock faces and listen to the roar of an unseen waterfall. It's amazingly rugged and ancient and enormous. Places like this remind you how temporary and insignificant you really are in the grand scheme of life.

A few miles on the road opens out and we have crossed another threshold into Catalan territory. The mountains are now distant silhouettes and the nearer landscape a series of rolling mounds of red stone and earth, olive trees, vineyards and temperate shrubs like oleander.

The wine houses are Mediterranean in style, plasterwork painted in pinks and purples, decorated with barrels and signs offering degustation [tasting].

Finally we are leaving the D117, and its sparse amount of traffic as we go beside Perpignan's airport on the way into its busy centre. Amidst the traffic lights and multilane junctions locals drive scooters and Fiat 500s like they have a forcefield around them, squirting into non-existent gaps and finding ways through the traffic which weren't in the driving test.

South of the town we are out into the flat lands and approaching journey's end the vineyard Mas Alart.

It's one of Nick and Grete's favourite France Passions and they led us here in February 2015 when there was snow in the air but today it is 29C and the grapes on some of the vines are heavy and purple. Owner, Freddie, tells us he is very tired as they are 75% of the way through harvesting. No tasting tonight, but we can stay as long as we wish and have tasting tomorrow,

There is a very strong sea breeze to keep us cool for the evening. Ali cooks a curry which we have with a bottle of Freddie's Syrah Merlot as we watch the sunset over the end of the Pyrenees range.

Two weeks ago we had a dream of driving the Pyrenees, end to end. Tonight, here at Freddie's vineyard, that dream has come true.