High up in the Pyrénees en route to Andorra lies an old border fortification; a true star-shaped castle: Mont-Louis, built around 1660 on the order of Louis XIV (the sun king).
Inside Mont-Louis is also the world's first solar oven.
Constructed in 1946, it is still in operation and produces concentrated sun rays that heats objects in the "oven" to 3500°C. Pure and clean energy that is used for high tech purposes.
Mont-Louis also sported a "Place de la République" one of many, many thousands of that sort in France.
After enjoying a café visit and the stunning vistas from the castle, we proceeded to negotiate the downhill and hair-pinned road back to our valley.
A couple of train bridges caught our attention because of their impressive forms and daring construction.
Above is the Gisclard bridge built in 1907-09.
Below is the Séjourné bridge of exactly the same age, but the bridges do look ages apart.
