2geonomads

Wednesday 14th October 2015

Awake to a clear but very chilly day and decide to take a trip south and back into Spain.

First stop is Banyuls-sur-Mer with a fine bay but the usual pebbly beach. Toilet stop at a loo with auto cleaning and on this occasion Gail does not have to contend with her own personal tsunami from the flushing system. By the way Banyuls is the birthplace of the world famous sculptor Aristide Maillol. His fame has sadly not reached Busselton as we have never heard of him.

Follow the winding road N114 high above the coast with numerous rocky coves and some tempting little bays and at Cape Rederis we get a superb view of the coastline. The cliff-top road then winds through vineyards although we see  a number of abandoned vine terraces where development has taken over.

Drive through the small seaside town of Cerbere which is the last town before the Spanish border heading south and the location of an international railway hub.

On to Portbou, the first resort on the Costa Brava, and then Colera,Llanca, Port de La Selva and finally the delightful Cadaques,made famous by the surreal artist Salvador Dali.

We follow the same route back to Collioure pausing for a moment to observe the now totally derelict and graffiti-covered customs/immigration buildings on the French side. Gone are the days when I could  fill up a passport in no time at all with all of the entries and stamps accumulated during my travels working for Coats Patons.

Get back to Collioure by 4.00 in time for Gail’s hair appointment and while she takes about 30 years off her age  I again watch the French Special Commandos going through their training in the harbour.

After another tip from Bruce Taylor we stop to have drinks at the Tempier Bar and Art Gallery for a drink and to check out the various artworks on display. Bruce had told us that one of the works was very valuable but that we would never guess which one. As this old philistine wouldn’t know a Picasso from a Nicholson cartoon taken from The Australian the painting’s secret is safe with me.

At Tempiers we meet up with Martin and Shona, two Aussies from City Beach in Perth and remarkably Martin is the brother of Jonathan from Capel whom we had met a couple of days earlier. We decide to get together for a very enjoyable dinner at a nearby restaurant. A great evening with lots of laughs, a very pleasant waitress and good food at reasonable prices. M and S are looking to buy a summer property in our area so we exchange details (including my blog address) and agree to catch up in the future.

THe weather has now turned very cold so it’s a fairly unpleasant walk back to the villa but our day’s outing has underlined what a spectacular coastline and hinterland this area offers.

Just to end on a piece of trivia- Collioure was once the haunt of the radical artists known as Fauves ( wild beasts), a group which included some well-known artists such as Matisse and Derain.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret