July 2017 The Freedom Trail - Chemin de La Liberté, French Pyrenees

By -

The Freedom Trail - July 2017

We were joined by an enthusiastic bunch of trekkers, may with their own strong personal reason for following in the footsteps of heroic passeurs and escapees who fled from France to Spain in WW2. We ground operated the route for Discover Adventure and had the pleasure of walking with Steve Gray. Here are a few pictures from the route, all copy right Anne Arran or Joao Simoes








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's make fire

By -
Image
After having been away from the Venezuelan jungle for a while I had fun attending Luke Collyer's bushcraft course. We will make this accessible for those wanting to go on our Venezuelan trek and expedition to Angel Falls.
Read more

Coastal Freedom Trail July 2017

By -
Image
The Coastal Freedom Trail July 2017 - Walter Benjamin route  16.7 Day 1 Perpignan & Museum de Riversautes concentration camp Perpignan was in touching distance of freedom and was one of the final stepping stones leading to Spain and ultimately the free world beyond. Canet la Plage 12km east of Perpignan was particularly important for the evasion network where some escapees were taken away by British ships and submarines that would wait off the beach at Canet. After airport pick up post flight delay we made a poignant visit to Riversautes an internment camp that was home to over 2,000 Jews until 1942 when they were deported to Auschwitz. We then travelled to the beautiful, coulousful coastal town Collioure.  17.7 Day 2 Walk Collioure to Banyuls sur la Mer via Cap de Bear via Port – Vendres  (17.5km + 231m or +700m) 5+hrs We begin walking to Port-Vendres where Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin began his escape journey after arriving by train fro...
Read more

Chemin de la Liberte with Discover Adventure - The Freedom Trail

By -
Image
A mixture of the old and the commemerative Chemin de la Liberté We've www.spa-treks.com  just been running a trip for Discover Adventure, specialists in fundraising trekking, to raise some money with a great bunch of people who wanted to make the push from freedom over the Spanish border. Making their own escape to Spain was especially poignant for some who were doing it for a particular reason - whether it be a personal challenge or to raise money for a charity following a life changing event. But was it fun? YEEEESSSSSS! From the 11th of November 1942, the date on which the Germans occupied the free zone following the Allied invasion of North Africa on the 8th of November, the Nazi noose tightened and surveillance increased dramatically. Frontier guards, mainly Austrians, were posted along the whole length of the mountain chain and enemy patrols intensfied. A forbidden zone twenty kilometres deep was also set up along the Pyrenees into which access was only allowed with ...
Read more