Carcassonne

We now had four days to get to our next pre-booked place in the Dordogne region over in the southwest. We decided on two stops of two nights each, the first in Carcassonne, famous for its old walled ‘city’. Actually the rest of the town is not very exciting but the medieval walled bit, heavily restored in the nineteenth century, is a tourist magnet. Like many of the really popular destinations we thought it was too ‘touristy’ for our taste … more like a medieval Disneyland than a real town. But it had some wonderful photo opportunities, all the same.

Two faces of Carcassonne

Travel Disasters; Chapter 5

From Cabestany we had a quick drive through the city of Perpignan before heading west, aiming for Carcassonne. The countryside was spectacular, with the Pyrenees on our left (their highest peaks still covered in snow) and a smaller range of hills to our right. Vineyards dotted the landscape and the sun was shining brightly.
	We followed the valley of the river Aude through ‘Pays Cathare’ - the Cathar Country. These days the long-dead heretics are a huge focus for the local tourist industry. We drove through a beautiful gorge and stopped in a road side rest area for a jolly good healthy lunch by the riverside.

 

We had just left the gorge when a motorbike overtook us. The man on the bike is waving his arms wildly … is he trying to tell us something?  He’s wearing blue clothes – is that important?  I start to pull over, and dammit there’s another person in blue clothes on a motorbike … , then I see “Gendarmerie” on the nice blue clothing.   Yep, you are nicked !   “Madame … did you know you were doing 76km in a 50km area !!!???”  I’ve always thought that to be a bit of a pointless question myself.  Only the French would a) not put up a sign that says 50km  b)  have a 50km zone on open road and c) spend all day cruising back & forwards through a stunning gorge collecting copious amounts of revenue from unsuspecting tourists like us.  “So Madame, that will be 90 euros,  instant fine thank you. Make sure you give me the right amount, I will not give you change”.  I tested their sense of humour by saying that if they cancelled the ticket, we would not beat them at rugby, but no, that wasn’t gonna get me out of this, even though they chuckled. They turned out to be nice guys and once we’d coughed up the fine, they were happy to have their picture taken.

Calligraphy Exhibition

We saw an ad for a small calligraphy exhibition in Cabestany, a suburb of Perpignan. It wasn’t far off the main road from Collioure heading back north, so how could I not go? This post is for all my NZ calligraphy colleagues … excuse the bad photos – the lighting was ill considered and everything was under glass, but anyway, here’s how they do it in France …

The Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain

In our original plan, we were going to spend 3 days in Spain so we could ‘do’ Barcelona, but we changed our minds for several reasons.  So, a day trip from Collioure over the border to Figueres became our only day in Spain.  Figueres itself doesn’t have much going for it except for the Dali Museum, which is apparently the 2nd most visited Museum in the whole of Spain.  We were lost for words throughout this experience – it is simply fantastic.  There is a separate small Museum for his jewellery creations, and both of them took us 6 hours to view.  Dali had a major role in the design and creation of the Museum over a period of years, and it shows.  These photos are not the best – reflections, odd angles, a bit fuzzy here and there, but this place was heaving with tourists and I had difficulties – I’m sticking to that story.

Dot & Lenny do Dali

Dali Museum   street view

very, very clever

Linz loves Dali’s take on Picasso

A bad photo, snatched as we were escorted out the door at 6pm, but very much a highlight for us.  One of Dali’s jewellery pieces – in the centre, many rubies each mounted individually, and the whole centre pumping as though it were a real heart.  Gobsmacking.

Many people think Dali only painted weird things, but this is so good you feel that you could put your foot in it

“H” for Hotel on a Figueres street.  Yes, each of the other 4 balconies had a different cow

Cool graffiti at the back of the car park building

My fave – the Mae West installation. This shot taken through the large convex magnifying lens

Another of Linz’s faves – Dali’s “Galatea Of The Spheres”

*** Communication Update *** (as at 26th April)

Just to let you know that we are without regular internet access for the next two weeks – we are snatching time at the local Mayor’s office when we can!  We’ll still be blogging and emailing, but just not as much as we would like.  So, keep looking, we love that you’re looking and giving us feedback.

Collioure, Côte Vermeille

As our next main destination was to be the Dali Museum in Figueres, Spain, we had originally thought we would base ourselves there for a few days.  We are enjoying France so much that we had a change of heart about staying in Figueres, re-examined the map, and decided to book somewhere in Collioure on the Côte Vermeille, just about the last stop in France before crossing into Spain.  A great decision it was.  Côte Vermeille – Vermilion Coast, I believe named because the dominant colour of the landscape is terracotta of the roofs and walls of the houses.  There is just something fantastic about the Mediterranean that is hard to put into words.  Collioure turned out to be one of our very favourite stops so far, and we have therefore justified lots of pictures.

View of the Mediterranean from our hotel, Les Mouettes		They love their window sills
		Intriguing rock formations
Collioure street view		Colourful ceramics shop with mosaic counter
	There are a great many artists’ studios in Collioure and they are all interesting

Béziers

Our last day trip from Pézenas was to Béziers, about 40km away.  The town has a dramatic history surrounding the massacre of the Cathars (an heretical religious group) which took place in 1209.  Linz talks about this subject in one of his lectures so he’d always wanted to visit.  We had a very pleasant restaurant lunch and a long chat to the owner who has directed us to several excellent but “affordable” restaurants to visit in Paris.  We’ll find out about the affordability when we get there, no doubt.

The newer part of town is built around this attractive open pedestrian space

The Cathedral & Bishop’s Palace dominate the old city

Early morning winos not delighted to be photographed

Perhaps the winos used to be church wall builders

She caught me zooming in on her life in an old high rise

Pinkfulness

Montpellier

Another day trip from our base in Pezanas took us to this beautiful old city, home to one of the world’s oldest medical schools and universities.  The main square buzzes with activity and interesting people.  We tucked into an appetising “Galette” for lunch – BUT delicious as it was at the time, it caused me grief for the whole of the next week.

D & L make a bee line for the first attraction they see		Elegant old buildings on the main square
It has its own Arc de Triomphe, older than the one in Paris	Interesting gargoyles	Sadly, way too many buildings have graffiti and it really spoils the city