Argelès-sur-Mer

Argelès-sur-Mer
21-28 May

When Alain took us to Argelès to have lunch with Martine from Alzon, we had no ideas of staying there longer than an afternoon. However, the weather was fine, the beach attractive and the apartment available. Martine and Rémy let out the apartment over the summer season, which is not quite yet. Fortunately. Much more our kind of place out of season.

For us, walking along the beach and alongside the marina in the company of not too many people was just great. In summer the population multiplies 10-fold, if I heard right. Within 5 minutes we were on a country road, within 2 minutes the marina and access to beaches, within 1 minute the bakery, with some wonderful things I can’t tell you the names of. Priorities seem right. Oh, and Martine left us a quarter of Roquefort. That’s heaps. It was more but fortunately Alain likes Roquefort too.

We lived at our own rhythm, ate what we felt like buying (do I mention Boursin from time to time?), read, watched some TV, including a fabulous Thalassa doco on global warming, wrote our updates, and explored the area, first on foot and then with the help of the free ‘trainbus’ which ran only a few times morning and afternoon at this time of year but which was fun to be on. We are in the land where everything closes for lunch, and then some, so had to be a bit organised around opening times. Our cheapest internet access was 3km away and open 3.30-6pm, Tuesday to Friday except Wednesday, so we never really got onto that. There was another internet place half an hour away on foot, but that was $20 an hour, also closed 12.00 to 2.00 and by 6pm, so we were always well-prepared and spent a minimum of time plugged in. We even went swimming in the sea but I have to say the water was pretty cold.

One thing that completely fascinated us was the rain full of sand from the Sahara. We experienced this in Perpignan but it was even heavier in Argelès. The wind sends the sand flying and you can see it in the atmosphere as a sort of light beige cloud. The rain picks up the sand and flings it onto the land. It lands, the water evaporates, and lo! – you have a sandy terrace/ car/ bush/ mailbox. I took a photo of the car in Argelès. It is mighty impressive! Double-click the car photo to get a really good view of the sand.

Photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/Argeles

Best day for me would be Collioure, where I had been before. But this time was quite different, as we walked there and took a boat back.

Collioure

The kings of Majorca were busy in Collioure too, with a summer residence cleverly disguised as a fort built in about 1300. This was soon surrounded by outer walls, which were progressively strengthened as the centuries wore on. No prizes for guessing that Louis XIV’s man, Vauban, had a hand in restructuring the defences after France got hold of the castle. We both really enjoyed ourselves rambling around Le château Royal, a voyage back in time: first in all the underground passages which must have provided space for hundreds of defenders, next in the main buildings, where there were some displays of traditional fishing in the area – for example the barques catalanes (the fishing boats) – exceedingly small to my mind - and displays with photographs, including the women sitting in rows on the ground mending the nets. There was The Queen’s Room (13/14 century), the guard rooms, the keep (basic and square, as keeps tend to be) with the added attraction of a video about Matisse, who was there for about 10 summers with his family in the early 1900s. He loved the quality of the light. Bet he would have loved NZ for the same reason! Lastly we just loved wandering around all the walls, looking down at the various defence systems laid out before us. They really were very good at it!

I could rave about the boat trip back, including a side-trip to Port-Vendres, which is where all the boats from Morocco land their goodies in this end of France. From the boat we could follow the paths we had taken over and around the rocky coves and had a good view of Argelès from seawards. The boat landed us a few minutes walk from the apartment. But I shall gloss over all that and tell you about the little treat we allowed ourselves (virtue, have you no shame?) just before departure. These seaside places seem to have a sort of Breton complex and you will find not just crêpes, but the buckwheat galettes as well, with ham, egg and cheese, for example, as fillings. But did we choose the nutritious variety? Sorry, no. I had sugar and lemon juice, Chris nutella. Simply wonderful. Enjoy the vicarious food – that is probably one of the healthiest ways to indulge!

Photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/101628277989220379025/CollioureTrip