Begur to Roses

September 26, 2023

Beautiful Coast

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What a day. We are loving this part of the world. Last night was incredibly quiet. The view out our window this morning seemed even better than last night and breakfast was just fine.

We started out for Pals. We have heard so much about it and our hotelier highly recommended we visit. Early on in the ride we had a tough decision. There was a fabulous waterfront path but we would have bypassed Pals. We decided to stick with the original plan.

Leaving Begur. A lot of elevation loss to look forward to!

Another entry in the never in Canada book. This guy just waved us through on the left, warned us to duck so we didn’t hit our heads and away we went. Turned out to be a dead end so we had to turn around and do it all over in reverse. Pretty funny.

We are so glad we stuck with the original plan. Pals is stunning. Just wow! At the top of a hill of course, and we took turns exploring the narrow cobbled streets while the other was enjoying a cold drink on a lovely patio. The restauranteur even tucked the bikes safely away in his garage. What follows is a Pals photo dump.

After Pals we did some highway riding. Light traffic and respectful drivers. At one point Keith made a left off the highway. A golf course naturally. He just had to take a look. Tonight we have been discussing the fact that in some ways the ride after Pals was unremarkable. Yet we saw so much.

He is incorrigible. Despite the frustrations of the game, he loves it.

In Torroella we stopped at the local grocery where I went in for groceries for our picnic lunch. Keith met James outside. By the time I emerged with world’s largest Milka bar, Keith and James were fast friends. He was touring as well and it was a great encounter.

Here he is with his lunch. No giant Milka bar for him. Much healthier.

Then we headed down the Eurovelo 8 for a bit which was good for the most part. The wind had piped up somewhat and I was starting to feel like there are easier ways to travel. Stopping in L’Escala for lunch really helped with that. Turns out I was hungry. We sat on a shady bench and admired the beautiful cove. We also admired some of the beautiful people. They weren’t all beautiful of course. One of the things I appreciate about Europe is the total unselfconsciousness of people at the beach. Young, old, big, small they just throw on a bathing suit and enjoy. It is a healthy attitude.

It was gorgeous. We sat on a waterfront bench and just admired.

This was amazing. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to tour it. It is the ruins of a Greek and Roman city. The Romans arrived in 218 BC.

After L’Escala it was mostly beautiful bike lane or well marked bike route. We explored Sant Pere Pescadore and rode through a protected wetland. We stopped in Empuriabrava…such an interesting development. Very upscale and very artificial. It is made up of canals and laid out on a grid. Just odd I thought, and yet I could see the appeal.

We stopped her in Empuriabrava and made the decision to carry on to Roses.

We had this delightful encounter on the bike route. A man tried to tell us, first in Spanish, then in charades, to watch for the horses. We failed at the charades. He was mimicking horseback riding and I thought he meant the path would be bumpy. How we laughed when the horses came around the corner.

This little guy was loitering and then took off at speed to catch up.

Then it was an easy roll into Roses on a great bike path. We have wined and dined and made the spontaneous decision to go to Cadaques tomorrow, by boat. We had earlier decided not to see Cadaques as neither the Anderson or the Maher Weary descriptions of the road and the traffic sounded appealing. Our hotelier here definitely advised against it. As we strolled down the beach tonight we found a tour boat that will take us there for 10 Euro. The CN made a snap decision that we should go, so we are. The boat takes us to Cadaques in the afternoon, returning to Roses in the early evening. We have booked a second night in the hotel and are looking forward to tomorrow. I was a bit surprised by this quick change of plan, but quickly on board. Pun intended!

This man was so helpful. Just grabbed all four panniers and took them to the room. Serious upper body strength here.

Our hotel. It is great, except for the wifi.

Relive video for the first half of the route:

https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vj9nDdAJq

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 323 km (201 miles)

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Comment on this entry	Comment	3

David MathersGreat photos and good call on the tour boat to Cadaques…Enjoy!
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7 months ago

Rachael AndersonGreat idea taking a boat tour of Cadaques!
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7 months ago

Kathleen ClassenIt was fantastic. Cadaques was gorgeous, and so was the ride there and back. It is such a dramatic coast.
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7 months ago