Black Madonna

Today, the forest track to the Refuge de la Silva was open to vehicles. It is only opened twice a year and on this occasion it was for the aplec (religious pilgrimage or gathering) close to the Spanish border. Once a year a mass is held at the Black Madonna grotto. The Madonna was placed there some years ago, following the death of three Catalans from hypothermia. The statue has been smashed several times but has now been replaced with a solid metal one cemented into the niche and protected by bars. We walked on to the Porteille de Mantet and descended the valley back to the cars. In total, it was only around eight kilometres but there were 530 metres of climbing. I took a lot of photos as the scenery was magnificent as we walked above the tree line up to 2340 metres. We called in on the way back home to see Francoise who had offered everyone tea as a reward for our efforts. We were back in time for bellringing practice and had three visitors to help out.