CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
582 km from Perpignan to Perpignan, about 11 h 30 of riding. On the way it passes Château de Peyrepertuse, Château de Termes, L’enceinte and Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,550 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Perpignan feels more Catalan than French on a good day, and most locals would not argue. The city was the mainland capital of the Kingdom of Majorca in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and the Palais des Rois de Majorque still sits on its hill, a fortress-palace of pink brick with a double-storey courtyard. In the old centre the Castillet, a squat brick gate with crenellated towers, guards the entrance to the lanes, and street signs often come in two languages. In 1963 Salvador Dalí declared the railway station to be the centre of the universe, and the city has never quite let go of the joke.
Read the complete Perpignan write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Perpignan is where the day begins. Next is Château de Peyrepertuse.
You see it long before you understand it. From the road below Duilhac, Peyrepertuse looks like part of the mountain: a grey ridge of limestone with walls grown along its spine, so long and thin that people compare it to a stone ship. Up close it is two castles in one. The lower fortress on the eastern end is older, and at the western summit stands the keep of Sant Jordi, added by the French crown after Louis IX took control of the Corbières in the mid-thirteenth century. The site sits around 800 metres up, and the climb from the car park is short but steep, on a rocky path that is no fun in stiff motorcycle boots, so bring trainers if you can.
Read the complete Château de Peyrepertuse write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Château de Peyrepertuse comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Château de Termes.
In the summer of 1210, Simon de Montfort, leader of the crusade against the Cathars, brought his army to the remote castle of Termes, in the heart of the Corbières, and laid siege to it. The castle's lord, Raymond de Termes, held out for four months, and the defenders only surrendered when their water supply was contaminated and disease broke out, or so the story goes. The castle became a royal fortress, guarding the border with Aragon, and was eventually dismantled in the seventeenth century. Today, its ruins sprawl over a rocky spur above the village, with remains of walls, towers and a chapel, and the views over the wild hills of the Corbières are tremendous.
Read the complete Château de Termes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 91 km into the recorded legs you reach Château de Termes. Next is L’enceinte.
Villefranche-de-Conflent is a whole town inside a wall. Squeezed into the narrow valley of the Têt where it meets a side stream, it was founded in the eleventh century as a stronghold of the Counts of Cerdanya, and after the Treaty of the Pyrenees turned this area French in 1659 it was refortified by Vauban to hold the valley against Spain. The ramparts that give the place its label, l'enceinte, are part of the UNESCO listing of Vauban's fortifications, and you can walk along the covered galleries inside the walls. High above the town on the mountainside sits Fort Liberia, linked to the village by a long underground stairway.
Read the complete L’enceinte write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
L’enceinte, about halfway. Next is Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc.
The Corbières are a rugged knot of hills between Carcassonne and the Pyrenees, covered in garrigue, vineyards and dark oak woods, and dotted with castles that seem to grow out of the rock. After the crusade against the Cathars in the thirteenth century, the French crown took over the region and rebuilt a string of fortresses to guard the border with Aragon: Peyrepertuse, Quéribus, Puilaurens, Termes, Aguilar and the walled city of Carcassonne itself, often called the five sons of Carcassonne.
Read the complete Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc sits at 190 km, about halfway. Next is back through L’enceinte.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete L’enceinte write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through L’enceinte comes up about 390 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Château de Termes.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Château de Termes write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 490 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Château de Termes. Next is back through Château de Peyrepertuse.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Château de Peyrepertuse write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Château de Peyrepertuse, late in the day. Next is Perpignan.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Perpignan write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 582 km.
Perpignan → Château de Peyrepertuse is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Château de Peyrepertuse → Château de Termes is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Château de Termes → L’enceinte is 101 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
L’enceinte → Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc is 99 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Royal Capetian Fortresses of Languedoc → back through L’enceinte is 99 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through L’enceinte → back through Château de Termes is 100 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Château de Termes → back through Château de Peyrepertuse is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Château de Peyrepertuse → Perpignan is 49 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.