La tour de Batère

We headed off this morning to the col above the village of Valmanya and walked to the medieval Batère signalling tower.  There are several of these  that command strategic positions above the valley and that could communicate with each other if there were an enemy advance.  They each had a small garrison of several soldiers. On the way we saw a slow worm on the path, orchids and gentians.  We walked on to the Batère iron mine and inspected the incline planes and old workings before following the old tramway back.  Fortunately most of the 18 kilometres was in the woods and shady as the thermometer rose to around 28 degrees today.  More photos here.