Overland to Spain 2010: Montpellier

That's us back in Montpellier again for a night stop, prior to catching the TGV back to Lille, and the Eurostar back to London. It's hot and sunny again in Montpellier - temperature 29 degrees.

We started fairly early this morning in Camprodon - a last minute sortie into the village for some souvenirs before setting off about 1030hrs. Our route took us over the Col d'Ares (4960ft) which was shrouded in fog and low cloud. The border is passed unceramoniously and we descend into the Tech Valley in France.

The cloud quickly lifts as we descend further into the valley. There are some pretty French towns en route, such as Prats-de-Mollo la Preste and Arles-sur-Tech. There is perhaps not much to offer, apart from their scenic value, but if we had the chance, we'd gladly stop and explore. Time is against us however, as we need to return the rental car by 1600hrs in Montpellier.

The temperature rises as we get to the bottom of the valley, and it's time to turn on the air conditioning! Just after Céret, we get caught in a traffic jam. This is effectively the queue to join the A9, both north and southbound, or the bypass into Perpignan. It's a classic case of bad road design, and after an hour in slow moving traffic, we eventually join the autoroute.

Once on the A9, progress is swift. The French speed limit (in dry conditions) is 130km/h which means that the 105 miles to Montepellier is achieved in about 90 minutes. The traffic was fortunately less dense than the journey southbound, ten days ago.

We arrived in Montpellier at 1530hrs, after stopping for a comfort break at the beautiful Catalan Village services, outside Perpignan (a bit like a mini-Gretna, just across the border). The rental car was returned at the station without fuss, and we headed for our hotel to check-in. We took a brief walk up into the old town before returning to the hotel for a few welcome cold beers in the outdoor bar.

The TGV tomorrow is at 0827hrs, so it won't be a late one!