2geonomads

Thursday 15th October 2015

Another beautiful but cold day and after breakfast we head north to Argeles sur Mer and then drive inland on the D115, passing Le Boulou and on to Ceret a hinterland town suggested to us by our newly-acquired oracle Bruce Taylor. The town turns out to be an absolute delight nestling in the foothills of the Eastern Pyrenees. Loads of character, picturesque squares and lane-ways. Reproductions of paintings by such as Picasso are to be found at various sites throughout the town and in the Place de la Liberte there is a fine sculpture called La Douleur ( The Grief ) by Maillol, the apparently world-famous sculptor who was only brought to our attention a few days ago. La Douleur commemorates the 154 children from Ceret killed in WW1.

Picasso design and signed fountain

Sculpture “The Grief” in memory of lives lost

incidentally, Ceret was very much part of the Resistance Movement during WW2 and has always been in the forefront of such activities.

Coffee and pastries in a lovely patisserie and we then just stroll around the various sights of this glorious small town. Later lunch at a restaurant serving organic food ( probably our healthiest meal in weeks). The lady who owns Le Chien de Pascale has spent 20 years in Canada and speaks excellent English but I do manage get in some much-needed French practice.

In the midst of all the sightseeing G and I manage to buy some shoes which I am reliably informed ( by Gail) are an excellent brand and much cheaper than in Aus.

I have come to realise that many of the locals speak a sort of patois which may be Catalan with some Basque thrown in although I know that this is not really their region. In any event at a local delicatessen the owner and I seem to get by with our version of Esperanto.

Eventually leave Ceret after a memorable day and head further west along the valley of the River Tech. The scenery becomes markedly more spectacular as we go through Amelia-les-Bains and Arles-sur-Tech eventually climbing up to the small town of Corsavy high above the river. The minor road up into the mountains and the one back down via Montferrer are of the type that Andy’s wife Mo adores, albeit from her usual vantage point under the passenger seat!

With time running out we have to get back to our Villa Bellevue (can’t think of a worse name) and enjoy the goodies bought from the deli in Ceret. We could happily spend more time in Ceret which has certainly lived up to Bruce Taylor’s glowing reference.

Just to end the day on an amusing note. While in Ceret we are  approached by some schoolboys from Barcelona who are doing some sort of survey. We are not much use to them but I notice that one of the guys is wearing a Barca shirt while his mate is a Real and C Ronaldo fan. I try to stir him up by showing him a photo of Barca player Messi taken at Nou Camp. He quickly says he hasn’t the time and hurries away. G points out to me once the boys have gone that he probably thinks I’m some sort of pedophile about to show him some hard core porn rather than a fully-clad Messi! How the world is changing.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.