Conflent is a historical Catalan comarca of Northern Catalonia, now part of the French Département of Pyrénées-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent. The capital of this pays is Prades (Catalan: Prada de Conflent), and it borders the pays of Capcir, Rosselló, Vallespir, Alta Cerdanya and Ripollès, and the Occitan-speaking pays of Fenolleda. It roughly corresponds to the valley of the Têt River (Catalan: Tet) and its neighbourhoods between Rodès and Mont-Louis (Catalan: Montlluís). Conflent is dominated by the Canigou (Catalan: Canigó) mountain.
Prades was the birthplace of Thomas Merton (1915-1968), a famous Trappist (or Cistercian) monk who spent most of his life at the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky in the United States. It was also the adopted home of cellist Pablo Casals and grammarian Pompeu Fabra during their exile from the Spanish Civil War. A small museum in Prades commemorates Casals.
Villefranche-de-Conflent dates from the late 11th century, and nestles at the confluence of two rivers - the Cady and the Têt, at the foot of high mountains.
The village fortifications still surround the village, which consists of streets of attractive pink-coloured stone houses from around the 13th century. The fortifications were strengthened in the 17th century by Vauban.
It is the walls that have helped the town preserve its authenticity and attractiveness - there is little space to spoil in such a confined space!
The highlight of a visit to Villefranche de Conflent is the renowned 'Yellow Train'. This little train, with some open carriages (especially popular with tourists), climbs through the hills, and eventually after 63 kilometres reaches Bolquere (the highest railway station in France). Passing through numerous tunnels, and crossing a couple of bridges, you will see great scenery as you travel along through the hills. The Yellow train line (Train Jaune in French and Tren Groc in Catalan) is a railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent through to Mont-Louis in France. It was started in 1903 and the section to Mont-Louis was completed in 1910. An extension to Latour-de-Carol was finalised in 1927.
There are 19 tunnels and two bridges, one of them a suspension bridge which is very unusual for a railway. The trains are powered by electricity at 850 volts DC, collected via a third rail. The power comes from hydro-electric generators on the River Têt.
There are open and closed cars. The open cars are a favourite with tourists and dramatic views are possible as the train climbs along the twisting track. The maximum speed of the train is 55 kilometres per hour. It is named after its colours, yellow and red, that come from the Catalan flag.
