Touring "La Tour"

The next day, bright and early, our most congenial host, Thomson, took us on a tour of his favourite views around beautiful Banyuls. We piled into our mini-minivan and switch-backed our way up a tiny road, then we all hiked the last kilometer up to the top of a hill to ‘la tour Madeloc’, seen in this picture at the crest of the hill. This was a watchtower built in 1285 as part of the defense warning system in the 1200’s. Towers like this still dot the Spanish Mediterranean coast, remnents of a time when villagers needed to keep an eye out for marauders from the sea.