Glorious day, so time for the seaside. Leaving lines full of washing on the terrace, off we set for Leucate, taking the winding but beautiful Albas road from Villerouge Termenès to Durban. A bit of a test when driving a car with vague steering, but we made it. Regulars may recall that, a few years ago, we encountered a VW works rally team there testing a fire-spitting Škoda Fabia. Nothing so dramatic today: but the views of the Pyrenees were fantastic.
We've hardly been missing at mealtimes lately, so opted for a snack lunch at La Franqui. Our usual watering place, the Palm Beach, also runs to a snack bar and a takeaway, so we opted for the one in the middle. I had a panino with Serrano ham, mozzarella and tomatoes. And garlic. And a fair few of Management's chips, he having ordered squid, Roman style.
La Franqui is not yet at its busiest which, even in summer, is reasonably calm. The beach, not having had its summer season daily sweeping, was looking a bit scabby, but the sea and sky were blue, the breeze was light, and a few pallid forms were to be seen out on the beach (not including ours). As is our wont, we looped back via Bages, so got to admire flamingoes (not in vast numbers, but 50 or so were quietly browsing one of the smaller ponds), egrets, oystercatchers, plovers and avocets. Back at the ranch, once the washing was in, we sat out up top and were entertained by swifts and house martins, and had a brief overflight by a kestrel or sparrow hawk. It isn't quite warm enough out there to wait for the fascinating bats just yet. Neither shall I be out there between 03:00 and 04:00 for the forecast meteor showers....
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