Monday, January 20 I left the camping EL Masnou after a night very agitated by a strong wind which cut down a large branch of tree near my truck. I traversed approximately 150 km to cross the border between Spain and France at the Pass of Banyuls at 330 m of altitude with some snowflakes. The descent towards the village in seaside required some operations so much the road is narrow while curving in the mountain. I bivouacked along a track in seaside with a temperature of 2,5°C in the rain.
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| Bivouac |
Tuesday, January 21 while crossing Banyuls sur Mer built around a maritime deep water basin which the swell violently invaded by projecting a sparkling scum on the idlers trying to take pictures and/or videos with their smartphones. Consequently the congestion caused by the vehicles looking at this phenomenon, scum and idlers, was spectacular as much. I continued my road in the rain projected on the sometimes flooded roads up to Peyriac de Mer to bivouac on a headland. The climatic conditions are not ideal to do tourism at the edge of the Mediterranean considered violent and very dangerous.
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| Bivouac |
Wednesday, January 22 in the Mediterranean coldness and gusts of wind I clearing approximately 220 km to reach the carpark of the archeological site of the Roman oppidum of Saint Blaise where I had bivouacked before. The Roman ruins are located on a rocky outcrop dominating in the north the ponds of Lavalduc and of Citis and, in the south the ponds of Engrenier and of Pourra. The green guide book gives a good historical description of the site since 7th century BC until 1390 where it was abandoned.
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| Bivouac St-Blaise |
Thursday, January 23, I honored the invitation of Lucile and Bernard by visiting them at the Laurons in Martigues. The afternoon was spent in exchange for information about our future trips, including viewing photos of Iceland. In the evening I installed my bivouac in the parking lot at the foot of the power plant.
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| Bivouac at Lauradons |
In the early hours of Friday, January 24, 2020, I ended my trip in Mauritania by returning to the Villa Thébaïde in Trans-en-Provence. After unloading my truck I discovered that the internet connection was down. Information taken from Orange, the connection of my landline number used by ADSL had been hijacked by Bouygues-Telecom. I was entering a difficult period which lasted three weeks to obtain the reconnection!
