Discovering the joys of Ceret

On Saturday 7 May we drove to Saint Girons and St Lizier to the north west of Foix. These towns would have been substantial stopovers for us had we undertaken the walk we originally planned, so it was good to see them.

The markets at Saint Girons were huge, full of local produce and artefacts, throngs of people weaving in and our of the stalls....Boronia had a great time assessing what was on offer. I had a quick look, then retreated for a coffee, although i did manage to pick up a feminist analysis of Shakespeare's Roman plays....

The cite at St Lizier was impressive, not as large as Carcassonne, but to my mind much more authentic and enjoyable. The medieval cathedral/church had some terrific stained glass windows, and a nice feel to it. Boronia lit a candle, maybe part of her prayers for me....

We then drove to Foix, took the train to Toulouse to pick up some of our baggage, and to pick up a new hire car.

The following day was wet and miserable. We drove down the freeway towards Perpignan, then turned south to wend our way through the back roads. The country was wonderful, but the most scenic parts were shrouded in cloud and rain. Still we found ourselves at Cucugnan, a delightful little village with a mill on the hill and a twelfth century church in the village. We had a very enjoyable lunch at a local restaurant, and went on our way. Finally arrived at Amelies les Bains around sic pm.

Monday was very wet, so we drove to Collioure on the coast, had soup and dessert in a pleasant little restaurant and managed to get soaked notwithstanding our raincoats. We stopped in Ceret on the way back, and saw enough to tell us it is a very interesting place.

Today, Tuesday 10 May, we climbed out of Ceret on a two and half hour return walk to the Ermitage Saint Ferroule (who I think is the patron saint of Ceret). It was hot and humid, but a good workout. We returned to our starting point, the thirteenth century pont du diable (which is an impressive piece medieval engineering over the river tech, at least thirty meters high.

Then a quick bite and a coffee at a cafe, and onto the Ceret art gallery, where we spent a very pleasant hour or so enjoying an exhibition by a portuguese /french artist, Helena Vieira da Silva. Neither of us had ever heard of her, but we both liked her work very much.

Pablo Picasso spent some time living in Ceret around 1903, along with a group of other artists. The Gallery has a small selection of his work, and the whole town celebrates its artistic heritage, which makes it a pleasure to explore.

Tomorrow we expect more rain, and we will drive north to explore some of the scenic villages in the Pyrenees Orientales. Then we head to Barcelona for three days before returning to France, possibly via Huesca or Lerida, and through one of the passes in the Haute Pyrenees.