Eastern Pyrenees

The land of spectacular gorges, majestic passes and mystical castles

I’VE BECOME A little addicted to this more eastern corner of the Pyrenees. I love how it feels; somehow wilder than the west. As well as the wide, smooth roads there are lots of narrow, bumpy ones. Modern hotels are built in ancient villages. There are deep gorges as well as lofty passes; in addition to well-tended fields and verdant vineyards there are shady woods and rocky high-mountain moors. It’s a landscape of extremes, which makes it all the more rewarding to explore.

I’m making Weeble retrace sections of my last trip, visiting the castles between Carcassonne and the Spanish border. I spent two days stopping at each one, but now we’re cramming as many as we can into a single afternoon: roll up, grab a picture, move on… It’s tiring work for a sweltering, humid day. If we were on a motorway, I’d be nodding off in these conditions – but the riding here is a dream, with bend after involving bend to keep me focused and alert. It’s a fantastic ride – as they all are, down here.