Day 15, Spain, Perpignan

As we only need 1.5 hours from Narbonne to Spain, our route this morning takes us along the Vermilion Coast and over the foothills of the Pyrenees to Spain, specifically to Colera. We have read that this route is supposed to be the most beautiful way to enter the neighboring country and offers great views of the sea and mountains. Admittedly, our main reason was the extremely high tobacco prices in France compared to Spain, which is very cheap. As soon as we passed the mountains, the thermometer already showed 18 degrees. Since all restaurants and cafes were closed, we quickly made our way back towards Perpignan. However, "quickly" was rather wishful thinking. Several trucks and buses were stuck in the relatively narrow mountain roads, and we were stuck in traffic for 30 minutes. Because nothing was happening at all, we decided to follow some local cars. Going the wrong way through some one-way streets under the not so strict eyes of the police, up and down through the residential area, and we could see a free road. The luck was only short-lived, the stop and go across the mountains lasted for another hour. At least we were able to take many photos of the beautiful landscape around us. When we arrived in Perpignan, we drove through the city again. The city didn't really capture us. Somehow we're missing the flair. Except for flags, we didn't feel much Catalan vibes. Maybe that will be completely different tomorrow, after all, today on the day of the armistice, all shops and most restaurants were closed.