World War I and II had a disturbing effect on life in the mountains. Each Village and place has their own story. Mrs. Whites hotel has too.
Pyrénées-Orientales is a part of Catalonia in The Pyrenees. Catalonian is spoken and written on signs along with french, and the Catalonion flag is every where. The region and its history is linked to the kathars.
People are friendly and involved in local affairs and entrepreneurialism thrive.They speak french, catalanion, some spanish and a little english. However tourists speaking uneasy french are treated well and are velcomed.
This border region between France
and Spain bear the stamp of wars and historic conflicts between the two countries - elevated fortresses and vantage points looking south.