Last year’s summer vacation was spent partly in the utmost south of France, in the canton of la Côte Vermeille. It was a family holiday so I didn’t spend too much time chasing trains, however on 2 mornings I got myself out of bed early enough to catch some interesting traffic. The region is splendid in many ways, so I consider this as only a discovery. More time will be needed to discover it in more detail.
When the sun is just above the horizon, you have a nice view on northbound traffic just south of Port-Vendres. First morning, I was hoping for some freight, but had to settle with only passenger trains. The shadows in the background are witness to the weather that day: wind was coming from the mountains, blowing clouds towards the coast line. In the morning however the clouds dissolved before reaching the coast, resulting in below picture, among others.

No freight, alas, but another interesting train was heading south. During a family trip to Collioure, from the corner of my eye, I had seen a viewpoint that raised my interest. This was the perfect time to try it. And yes, the view was great. The town in the middle is Argelès, with the tower of the Notre-Dame del Prat church taking a prominent place. The beach on the right is the Plage du Racou, a nice sandy beach next to a village characterized by its sand alleys between the houses. A pleasure to stroll through.
My location was pretty exposed to the wind blowing from the mountains. My tripod was a necessary tool to get below picture of the night train to Cerbère. It is hauled by locomotive 7399 in original Béton livery, without any modern SNCF logo. Without a doubt it’s one of the most beautiful locomotives of this series still running around.

The second morning, the day after the first morning in fact, I went to Port-Vendres again. Really, hoping to get a freight train. The weather was much calmer today, and I also caught 1 freight train heading north, towards Germany.

I got inspiration for many more photo locations while travelling around the region, so a dedicated trip will have to be organized one day.