Col Cerda to Saint-Martin-de-l’Albère

We woke to lots of condensation and cold temperature. I wore my down jacket for all of the climb up Roc de Frausa Oriental, 1450 meters.

We stopped for coffee at the restaurant in Las Illas.  This was a really cute town that would have been a good place to stay overnight if we were wanting to stay inside. We dried out our tents and sleeping bags. We ate our lunches and then got ice cream…. Arabic coffee for me. 

Las Illas

Cork oak. Notice how the bark has been shaved

Lots of road walking later we got to Col du Perthus. This is another Spanish border town that thrives on selling cheap alcohol and lots of other stuff. It was crowded but we needed to get some food for the next day and a half. We went to 3 supermercados. Not one had even one piece of fresh fruit or vegetable. But they had alcohol. Lots of it. We managed to get some food and walked out of town. It was 5:30pm and 23 degrees celcius. 
Another road walk up and we got to the tiny hamlet of Saint-Martin-de-l’Albère. There is a water fountain here and we have a great place to camp. Flat. Quiet. Great view. Mobile service so I can catch up on my blog. As I type this the light breeze that was a plus has turned into very strong gusts. Hmm. It might be an interesting night.