Collioure & Port Vendres

Sunday September 16, 2007

We’ve had our first night in Cachette Tranquil and all is well. Other than the church bells that toll two times every hour – all night – our first night was uneventful. After yesterday that’s a good thing. We didn’t get going too early this morning, which was probably a mistake in retrospect. But we did have a leisurely breakfast after our showers and then headed out for a day on the Mediterranean at Collioure and Port Vendres.
We took a different route out of Fraisse –there are only two – and got totally screwed up in a village about 10 km down the road. We went past the same spot in the village 3 times and finally backtracked and found the real route. That’s the “charm” of visiting new places – lots of adventures interpreting the maps. So, 20 minutes later we were back on the route to the autoroute south.
By the time we got to Collioure, the cars were lining up to get into town. It was Sunday after all and this is a huge tourist – French and otherwise – destination. We made our way through town and parked well up into upper town – the old two wheels off the curb trick. The day was hot and sunny as we headed to the scenic bay surrounded by chateau, stone pier and colourful town. This is one of those towns that, once you’ve been there, you never forget. It has a painter’s or poet’s beauty about it that must be seen to appreciate. Therefore, I’ve added lots of pics with this post.