Micro-Adventure: Musée du Liège

February 12, 2018 | Tracy

On Thursday, February 8, we headed out to the Musée du Liège, or the Cork Museum. Having just opened from their annual break last week, we had been looking forward to visiting another quirky little museum.

Wow! We never realized how much goes into the manufacturing of cork, or that there is a scale of quality for corks, or that it is a renewable resource or that it all has to be harvested by hand.

Though we were only in the museum for an hour — 20 minutes of which were spent watching a wonderful documentary about cork production in our region — we learned quite a bit!

For instance, cork is a type of oak tree and it takes 30 years to mature enough to be harvested. It is a natural firebreak and in the early days of firefighting it was used for helmets.

Cork oaks only grow in a few regions around the globe and has never been successfully introduced into non-natural climates. Our region and others around the Mediterranean produce more than 70 percent of the cork used world-wide.

The largest cork in the world is housed in a little museum in a tiny village called, Maureillas about an hour by bus from our little village and about 5 minutes from Ceret.

It is a very large cork. 2.4 meters tall and 1.3 meters in diameter, roughly 7 feet, 10 1/2 inches tall by 4 feet, 3 inches in diameter.

Housed in the old cork factory, the museum has four display rooms and a small gift shop. The modern room upstairs has a 20-minute documentary playing on a loop, samples of items that cork was historically used for, and a beautiful photo exhibit showing black and white photos of cork being harvested as well as a few historic photos of cork being hand processed after harvesting.

The second upstairs display is housed in part of the old warehouse and has many beautiful works of art all created out of cork. The room is has a large opening in the center of the space where you can peer over the railing into the display room below.

The room below features cork and wine products from around the world all housed in six enormous old wine casks. These are seriously large enough to add in 2 sets of bunkbeds and call it a cabin. I loved the dimmed lighting and colorful displays, especially the one with a large assortment of old jars that all have old corks in them.

The other room downstairs has the world’s largest cork, a large assortment of old machinery used in cork manufacturing. All of which are easily identifiable if you watched the film in the first room upstairs. My favorite in this room, other than the giant cork, was the small display on the quality of cork. With samples of what is the most desirable to the least.

This small museum is easily traversed within an hour, even with time for photos, and oddly enriching and educational. We completely enjoyed ourselves and highly recommend stopping in for a few minutes and checking it out.

Hand tools for shaping

Axe style used for harvesting

An old cork punch machine

An old hand-operated cork compressor

The largest cork in the world

Alan standing with the largest cork in the world

Hand-operated corking machine

Sorting machine

Chalk writing on an old brick wall from the late 1930s

Corks

A table made from cork

A view of the enormous wine casks on the museum’s first floor

The “cork art” part of the exhibit

Cork mosiac

Corks!

Cork sailboat and life savers

Number 1 quality cork, the best of all six quality levels

Number 2 quality cork

Number 3 quality cork

Number 4 quality cork

Number 5 quality cork

Number 6 quality, the least desirable

More cork and bottles

How oxidation changes the color of wine

Some stunning imagery for the oxidation display

Bottle and cork collection

Corks from our region were even shipped to “Nappa Valley, Californie”

Tracy standing with the world’s largest cork

The Cork Museum exterior

Can you see the cork oak design on the wall?

information chart on how to harvest cork

Micro-Adventure: Villefranche-de-Conflent

January 31, 2018January 31, 2018 | Tracy

Part two of our micro-adventure was to visit the fortified city below Fort Liberia. Built before the fort, this ancient city was the capital of the region when it was part of Catalonia. The principality of Catalonia was divided in half in the mid 17th century when the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed. The northern region, including the fortified city of Conflent, became new lands of King Louis XIV.

The main industry here for centuries was the manufacturing of material. The village was famous for its fabrics and they sold throughout the European continent. Each bolt of fabric was labeled with the towns crest as proof of its origin. This emblem consists of two towers, a star and water, surmounted by the Catalan colors of red and gold and topped with the crown of Aragon. Because the fabric was so highly sought after the weavers of the city were not taxed for this commercial asset. This move on the part of the government gave the city its name “ville franche” or “free town.”

The village was built at the confluence of two rivers, the Tet and the Cady. Literally built at the river’s edge as part of the city’s defense. More formal fortifications were made and Cova Bastera (barracks built into an existing cave) added at the same time Fort Liberia was being built to strengthen the defensive system of the village under the direction of the king’s military architect, Vauban. Though these additions did not stop General Ricardos’ Spanish army from taking the town without a fight in August of 1793.

The town consists of just two narrow streets and several open squares with four main entryways, none of the original gates exist and the drawbridges have been gone for awhile, but the inner workings of the bridge lifts are still in place near the Porte de France, the place we first entered.

We ate lunch at the only restaurant available, Cafe Le Canigou, which thankfully advertises that it is open 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The restaurant overlooked a small square which had views of Fort Liberia and the Mushroom Museum.

Probably the quaintest feature we found in this tiny village was the continued use of signs advertising the wares of the businesses. Though more modern, we loved the use of this medieval advertising method from a period in history when the average person could not read and thus signs advertising the type of business were necessary.

As is often the case, we always notice that each new village or town has at least one thing we have not seen in other small locations. For Villefranche-de-Conflent it was the marble signage with instructions on the correction of the sundial to have the exact time in any season.

Villefranche-de-Conflent and Fort Liberia receive over 80,000 visitors a year, but our suggestion is to avoid the crowds and visit during the off-season when you have the opportunity to visit at your leisure and enjoy the quaint beauty without hordes of people pushing you through the street.

Church built in the Catalan Romanesque style

Sign for laundry business

One of the four city gates

Mushroom Expo!

Lunchtime!

Tracy at the Porte du France gate

Villefranche-de-Conflent battlement along the Cady river

Fountain in front of the city

View of the battlement (foreground) and Fort Liberia (above)

Pulley for the drawbridge

Name plate for the French gate

Alley to Cova Bastera, the military barracks built by Vauban into an existing cave

Rue des Tisserands, street of the weavers

Sign for the caves

Sign for the mineral shop

Sign for the salon

Sign for a housewares store

ATM built into an old entryway

Medallion in front of the town hall

Fly sculpture

Correction du Cadran Solaire pour avoir l’heure exacte en toute saison (correction of the sundial to have the exact time in any season)

One of the two main streets within the city walls

Sign for a jeweler

Sign for the bakery

Photo of an aerial shot showing both the village and the fort

Micro-Adventure: Fort Liberia

January 31, 2018January 31, 2018 | Tracy

Today’s micro-adventure was to Chateau-Fort Liberia in Villefranche-de-Conflent . . . well above it actually. About 1,000 steps above it.

We arrived early expecting a bit of a climb and set out immediately, once we found the starting point. Just off to the left of the parking lot for the train station is a narrow trail along the fence keeping people from the train tracks. This is starting point for those who are walking up to Fort Liberia. There is a summer shuttle for about €3, well worth it I imagine in the summer heat.

We followed the narrow trail, walked over the bridge crossing the train tracks and up to the gate allowing entrance to the private property of the Chateau-Fort. Approximately 100 meters from the gate is the start of the climb . . . a few dozen cement and stone steps. From the top of the steps the climb gets much steeper and there are less and less “steps” but more and more rocks and at this time of year, mud.

The sign at the bottom of the staircase said a 20 minute climb, it took us 30 minutes. We still arrive 45 minutes before the scheduled opening of 10 a.m. Though in reality the place didn’t open until 10:30 and we had already started back down the hill when the three-person team came up in a jeep to open up the fort. Turning around and reclimbing the last 200 meters, we finally made our way into the fort.

First, we hit the bar to pay for our entry and grab a cup of coffee while reading through the tour literature.

Built by Vauban — Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633-1707), a military engineer of King Louis XIV — Fort Liberia is 337 years old and played a big part in defense of the French-Spanish border after the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 which gave the northern part of Catalonia to the French. Built above the walled city of Villefranch-de-Conflent a good two-thirds of the way up the Belloc mountains, this sandstone and marble fortress is both functional and beautiful. Used as a fort, prison and private home, it is in remarkable condition and has many of its original features, such as shutters and doors.

Vauban is well known in this area for building some amazing forts and military bases. In addition to Fort Liberia, he has another in this region called Mont Louis that we plan to visit in the near future. He was the leading military architect of his time throughout the world and his designs were emulated for nearly 2000 years. Fort Liberia is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site along with 11 other Vauban military installations throughout France.

Very little has changed through the years, though in the mid-1800s they adapted guard towers to deal with more “modern” warfare and in the early 19th century an underground tunnel was dug which links the fort with the fortified city below.

The most stunning features were the ramparts, the poisoner’s cell and the church. Though I favored the poisoner’s cell and the story of the six women who were imprisoned there. One lady was chained in a cell for 36 years and another for 44 years. The women were not allowed to talk for fear that they would name women of King Louis the XIV’s court who also took part in purchasing poisons from La Voisin, another of the inmates who was imprisoned for not only supplying the poison but also practising black magic. One of the court ladies who the king feared would be implicated happened to be among his favorites, hench the gag order on the prisoners.

The church dates from the 17th century and though small has a lovely alter and two tiny stained glass windows. After the army’s departure the chapel was turned back over to the church by the last private owner so that weddings and baptisms could once again be held.

We didn’t stay long, the entire tour took less than 90 minutes and though we would have loved to take the underground tunnel to the fortified city below, we didn’t think it was worth doing in the dark! Had the lights been on, we may have decided to travel 1.5 kilometers underground . . . perhaps next time!

20 minutes for the average person, 30 minutes for us, 10 minutes for the guys who were running up the hill!

One of the many cannons still on site.

The bakery

Tracy next to the shutter for the “window”

Tunnel-like ramparts of the outer wall around the “fosse”

arches used for strength and beauty

Fort Liberia

View from the guard tower

Staircase to the battlements, church to the right

Looking back up at the keep from the lowest level

Map of the fort, the green “arrow” faces the top of Mount Belloc

17th century church, St. Pierre

Staircase to the upper level

Lovely old door

Drawbridge and entry

Very tall walls!

The path to the top

Staircase starting point for the climb to the fort

Bridge over the railway

Another cannon!

The cell of the poisoners

Rock art!

Balcony and guard tower

Door bell!

Counterweight for the drawbridge

Alan in front of the wall

The entire hillside of Mount Belloc is terraced, formerly for crops or grapes we didn’t know for sure.

Open, open, open

Micro-Adventure: St. Genis des Fontaines

January 24, 2018January 24, 2018 | Tracy

This week’s micro-adventure was to the small community of St. Genis des Fontaines. Specifically we went to see the 8th century Abbaye St. Genis des Fontaines, a Benedictine abbey which was part of the kingdom of Aragon when the Catalan people lived and ruled this area. Built between 778 and 780 AD it is dedicated to the martyr Saint Genis (303 AD).

This little abbey was destroyed by Norman looters in the 11th century and rebuilt throughout the medieval period, including architectural evolution of the 12th century church ceiling vault and the 13th century cloister construction.

In 1507 it was united with the larger Catalonian abbey of Montserrat, also a Benedictine abbey, near Barcelona. This alliance is what caused its decline in the 16th century during the French Wars of Religion. It became French governed under the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, when the northern kingdom of Aragon was turned over to France.

Only seven monks remained when it was finally closed during the French Revolution. It remained empty until 1850, when the church became a village parish once more. The abbey and cloisters, sold off in 1924, were finally returned to the parish in 1995.

The abbey has lovely Roman origins and though some parts are still privately owned or still in need of restoration, we certainly found a lot to see in this small, but lovely, little abbey.

The entrance fee also included an art exposition. Most of the photos included in the expo had been taken in Cerbere and Port Vendres in France and Port Bou in Spain. We recognized them immediately and appreciated the artists unique angles having just done photos in this areas recently ourselves.

The town itself had only a handful of businesses, but we still managed to find a place to grab a cup on coffee while waiting for the abbey to open and lunch (mushroom, bacon and cheese quiche) at the little boulangerie as the restaurants were not yet open and we wanted a quick bite before heading home on the bus.

The photos below are mine, Alan posted his to Facebook!

The “main street” of St. Genis des Fontaines.

The local post office is in the lower left corner of this pretty house!

Brick gated-entry to an abandoned residence.

One of the town’s fountains.

Me trying to take a creative shot of the wall and street.

Loved the brick and wood in this lovely home on the main street.

Garden gate near the abbey

Me being creative again!

Interesting lock at the front gate

An old map in the tourist office

The last grape on the vine

Entryway into the art exposition hall on the second floor of the abbey’s cloister

Brick archway, second story of the cloister

Part of the photography expo

Stone and metal scultpure

Part of the photography expo, Port Bou

Part of the photography expo

Part of the photography expo, Hotel Belvedere in Cerbere

Part of the photography expo

Photo of an old painted shield

Ceramic display

Modern stone and metal sculpture

The first hall of the expo

Another stone and metal sculture

First floor of the cloister

Multiple colored columns

Alan in the choir loft

The main alter of the church

The bishop’s chair

One of the nameplates on the pews

The nave of the church showing the 12th century barrel vault ceiling

Stairs to the choir loft

Holy water font on a 12th century column

Well and colonnades of the cloister

The capital of this column looks like a bird with the head of a T-Rex!

The Dolium, Roman origins, was discovered in the wine cellar of the abbey. Originally used to hold cereals and wines.

Alan at the end of the colonnade near the Dolium

The colonnade with columns of different marbles

Entranceway into the cloisters first floor

Alan near the front door of a house near the abbey, people were shorter when this place was built!

A village house that is for sale, super cute!

Micro-Adventure: Cerbere

January 17, 2018January 17, 2018 | Tracy

For our goal of getting out and about more for 2018, we instituted Travel Tuesday (or Thursday if the weather is awful!). Yesterday for Travel Tuesday we hopped on a train to Cerbere. The last French city before you reach Spain, this lovely little community has quite a lot to offer for the day-trip traveler.

We opted for the train as there is frightfully little bus service to this tiny port town. So at 9 am we got on a train, rode for 31.5 km, and hopped off 15 minutes later. Round trip for two, under €20.

The very first thing we did was to go up to the oldest part of the station and take a ton of photos of the station’s gazebo-like outdoor structure. We see a lot of this type of design on older train stations, but this one has a secret — or more truthfully a “little-known” fact — it was designed and built by Gustave Eiffel. Yep, THAT Eiffel, as in the giant world-renown tower in Paris! Cool, huh! We thought so, hence the tons of photos. The station’s border guards smiled and laughed at our enthusiasm, they obviously know the history and were likely more amazed that WE knew the history.

In addition to being built by such a famous architect and artist, the station also has a link to our home town of Argeles-sur-Mer in that nearly all of the refugees of the Retirada (the Spanish Civil War) passed through the tunnels under the Pyrenees, to the train station in Cerbere and then over the hills the 31.5 kilometers to the beaches of Argeles-sur-Mer. Between 1936 and 1939 Argeles received over a 1/2 million people fleeing from the infamous, Francisco Franco.

After our photo shoot at the station we hiked over to the beautiful Hotel Belvedere. This beautiful hotel built in 1928 is still undergoing restoration work, but the completed facade facing the sea is absolutely lovely. More photos, of course!

From there we hiked down on the elevated roadway that includes a nice, wide pedestrian lane which offers great views of the Mediterranean as well as the surrounding hills and town below.

We spotted the new breakwater near the empty harbor and headed down to walk out to the point. From that vantage point we had great views of the small pebble beach and sea-side homes and businesses.

Walking back toward the main street through town, we noticed a couple of backpackers and their dogs. We enjoyed watching their puppy try to play with the larger, older dog who wasn’t really interested. After smiling our good mornings, we went looking for the tourist office . . . which was closed. Not unusual for this time of year but we do love visiting and finding out new things nearby to go and see so it always feels like a missed opportunity when the tourist office is not open.

The small square at the end of the main thoroughfare was a bit lively with a couple of vendors selling their fruits, vegetables and meats. There was a boulangerie in one corner and a small corner grocery store to our right as we entered the square. However none of the restaurants on the square were open so no coffee . . . bummer.

After leaving the mini-market area, we headed out of town to go visit the lighthouse. Cap Cerbere is the most southern French lighthouse on the Mediterranean. It also looks a lot like the Space Shuttle. Seriously. From the lighthouse you can look across the large bay into Spain, which we did.

After playing around the lighthouse for a while, we took photos of the wine tasting building (only open during the summer) that offers free tastings for tourists during the “season.” We did laugh over the idea of something similar in the US, a road-side, free wine tasting booth with plenty of parking . . . probably never likely to see one there anytime soon!

Heading back into town we had lunch at La Cacerne, the “Happy Pizza” place, a small terraced cafe with views of the harbor. Ordering a small pizza to share we were quite surprised when it arrived sliced American-style. So surprised, in fact, that I asked Alan if his French was that bad that the server didn’t bring us forks and knives which is standard for pizza consumption in Europe. Later a group of locals also received their pizzas pre-sliced so we figure it must be a “new” thing for the region!

After a delicious lunch, we headed back toward the square to check out the tunnels connecting the lower town to the hilltop above. One of the main tunnels leads to an interesting cistern like break between two tunnels, but includes an abandoned small home and overgrown yard, and a unique staircase up the curved walls to the train station above. Heading back toward the seafront, we decided to explore a smaller tunnel (pedestrian only size) off to our left. It lead us over the the opposite side of the railyard above us and allowed us to get much different views of the town below and the Mediterranean beyond.

Done exploring and wanting to get home while it was still beautiful out, we headed back to the train station. While waiting for our train we ran into the backpacking couple and their dogs. They were heading in the opposite direction toward Spain taking the 2 minute train trip into Port Bou. Vanessa and her boyfriend, whose name we didn’t quite get, have been traveling for a few years now. She was lively and fun to chat with, offering to play her ukelele for us if we run into each other in Argeles, as they visit up this way on occasion. We told her we would welcome another opportunity to visit and would love to hear her play.

Such a lovely day, warm and sunny with hardly any wind at all. Amazing for mid-January. Much appreciated by us both.

Today we woke up to winds at 87 mph blowing around the furniture on the balcony. It reminded us of a simple trut

Exterior of train station by Gustave Eiffel

Interior shot of train station by Gustave Eiffel

Tunnel to Spain

Reshoot of photo of the Retirada (refugees in the tunnel)

Street sign near train station

In memory of SNCF (French train system) who fought in WWII

Abandoned house in the cistern-like area between the tunnels

“You see what I mean”

Alan at the “drive up” wine tasting place near the lighthouse

Cap Cerbere lighthouse

Cap Cerbere sign

Metal meets wood

This guy visited the lighthouse a lot!

Last hill before Spain

“Space Shuttle” lighthouse, Cap Cerbere

Looking across to Spain

City signs in French (right) and Catalan (left)

Just 4 kilometers to Spain

Cooler shot of the sign!

The old school in Cerbere, Ecole Mixte, boys and girls together in one school

Pretty blooms on a succulent . . . in January

Boulangerie on the town square

Mural of the Sardane, a traditional Catalan dance

Pretty houses

Alan with the Catalan fisherman sign

Sign board for a restaurant, a Catalan fisherman

Pretty boat in the harbor

Looking up at the elevated road and pedestrian path

Pretty boat in the harbor

Heading toward town and seeing the new breakwater

View of the point

Another train tunnel (this one toward France)

Unrestored side of Hotel Belvedere

Entryway of the Hotel Belvedere

Hotel Belvedere, a boat shaped hotel built in 1928

Pretty houses

Dual entryway

Pretty houses

Hotel Belvedere

Glass panel at the train station

h . . . Gustave Eiffel definitely understood the weather around here. The beautiful structure that we admired at the train station yesterday is brilliant in its design as it allows the wind to blow . . . through it!

A Hidden Gem

March 28, 2017March 27, 2017 | Tracy

We met a new friend a while back, Beth. Another American expat who lives here in Argeles-sur-Mer with her two daughters. She’s a friend of the lovely Lisa who assisted us with Lou’s adoption. Beth and I corresponded via Facebook and email and set a date to meet for coffee. She’s a super fun lady and we really enjoyed getting to know her a bit.

After our initial meet, she sent me a note about a new exhibit in nearby Rivesaltes. The exhibit is on the grounds of the Camp du Rivesaltes, one of the many camps set up during the Spanish Civil War. We were really excited about visiting as were our friends Joan and Greg. We set a date to go visit together. Joan found a lovely winery where we could stop and grab lunch; Greg offered to drive.

Greg’s offer was great. When we finally found this new place without ANY signage to help direct us, we had been traveling for over an hour . . . mostly in circles. Several people helped us out along the way, a lineman working on a telephone line, a truck driver at a utility company, a receptionist at a hotel, an employee at a government building. All of them knew about the place, all of them gave us directions, NONE of them actually helped us find the location. We did get excellent directions to the memorial, but the Camp and the memorial do not share the same space and were on different sides of the freeway. One must be quite specific when requesting directions Camp du Rivesaltes Memorial and Camp du Rivesaltes Museum are two completely different things.

We arrived about 20 minutes before our lunch reservation so we hopped out of Greg’s car and took a quick look around at the buildings and inside the lobby of the museum. Then headed back for lunch into the historic district of Rivesaltes.

Lunch at Cazes was amazing. Joan used to run her own catering business and her ability to find delicious and beautiful food never fails to impress. We had a great lunch, some yummy wine, took a look around the small winery, tasting room and gift store. Across from the entrance to the wine tasting room and gift store (they share the same space) a roll up door allowed us to watch the labeling machine at work. A small assembly line machine with two people at the end of the 8 foot track boxed labeled bottles of wine into boxes. Just past the labeling room toward the restaurant and behind the wine tasting room was a small warehouse filled with barrels of wine. This tiny warehouse faced a lovely outdoor dining area. Definitely worth a return trip!

After lunch and our mini-tour, we headed back to the museum getting lost for just a moment on the return trip.

The camp was like taking a walk through time. Many of the buildings that still exist are easily identifiable: barracks, showers, bathrooms, etc. The museum was built into the ground, like a basement. We were expecting to learn more about the Spanish Civil War and the refugees who fled from Spain and were temporarily housed here.

That isn’t want we found.

The history of the Camp du Rivesaltes was far more complex and covered far more world events. During most of its history, the site at Rivesaltes was both a military camp, it’s original function, and an internment camp. The French War Ministry’s decision to build the camp dates back to 19 December, 1939.

Beginning in 1940 on over 600 hectares of land, 19 blocks were built — 13 of the large quadrilateral buildings were used for housing troops the other six for services. In May of 1940 there were already 12,000 men living there It had been a camp for Spanish Civil War refugees, but also Vichy’s Undesirables during WWII, then a camp for assembling Jews before deportation to Auchwitz, then a transit camp for Harkis after the Algerian War, then it was released to the military.

There are over 600 hectares of land, divided into nineteen blocks: thirteen reserved for accommodation for the troops (large quadrilateral buildings designated with a letter), six for services. It was intended to set up a Transit Center for indigenous colonial troops. The first to arrive were Senegalese battalions. In May 1940, there were already nearly 12,000 men. These troops were to be sent to the Front, and after defeat, were soon followed by others who retreated before being demobilized. The sharp decrease in men in the French army after the signing of the Armistice on June 22, 1940 with victorious Germany, made the vast military camps, like Rivesaltes useless. However, in the context of the new Vichy regime’s exclusion policy, the idea of giving a portion of the site for installing an internment camp became obvious. It was accomplished a few months later. What remains is reminiscent of Manzanar in California. Here there are far more buildings and the museum itself is very modern using technology as a great advantage in telling the story of the camp, the people who were forced to live here and similar places all around France.

It is humbling to spend time in such a place.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Camino 2015 Equipment List

August 29, 2015December 31, 2015 | Tracy

In 2014, my Aunt Deb and I hiked from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Los Arcos, caught a bus to Logrono and a train from Logrono to Sarria, then hiked the last 100 kilometers from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela. It rained a lot in 2014, but I finally had the opportunity to cross the Pyrenees (in 2013 we took the southern route through Valcarlos). What I really enjoyed though was spending the two weeks with Deb. She’s one of my personal role models and a woman I respect very much. She loves the outdoors and I enjoyed every mile we hiked together. She has a fantastic sense of humor, is quick to laugh, shares my love of occasional junk food binges, can hike 20 kilometers a day for weeks without seeming tired, and doesn’t mind getting up early. It was a fantastic journey and I’m so glad that she shared it with me.

But as Alan and I were discussing vacation options (such as Marrakech, a cruise from Venice to Greece, etc.) the husband mentioned that he was a little jealous of my trek in 2014 with my aunt. So I suggested that we do it again, the whole 800 kilometers. We figure that cruise lines will always be headed to Greece, that Marrakech will always be a short flight from France, but the ability and desire to hike 800 kilometers across Spain may wane over time. So we’re gearing up and going again in September/October 2015.

We’ve compiled a new equipment list based on our experiences in 2013 (see 2013 Equipment Review) hoping to learn from our first trek and make changes according to our own reviews of the equipment we chose for 2013. Our idea of “wear one, wash one” worked very well for the entire six weeks and we plan to stay with that idea except for socks. As we mentioned again and again in 2013, foot care is the most important issue on the Camino. Dry socks = happy feet. So we’ll bring extras!:)

Continue reading →

Micro-Adventure: St. Cyprien Plage

July 30, 2015July 30, 2015 | Tracy

Last Saturday I was house shopping for 2016-2017 at AirBnB online (again). We found a place in Perpignan that looked like it would be great, but I still wasn’t sure it was the best option so I was still searching. I found a small house with nice big yard for Sami and a three room loft. I put in an inquiry and almost immediately heard back. It was available for the entire year. So we decided we should go and check out town where this cute little cottage lives in St. Cyprien Plage.

The house is at the north end of the plage, but having never been there we weren’t sure exactly where to get off on the bus and decided that the second exit near the port seemed about right. Well wrong. As we walked to the center town we realized that the port has almost two kilometers of waterfront. Built in the 1960s as a way to encourage tourism, this harbor has dozens of turns and branches out much like a palm tree. It is the second largest pleasure port in France and the third largest in Europe.

Needless to say we were quite done looking at the houses at the harbor by the time we reached the central plage.

This was a Sunday and apparently market day in St. Cyprien. We normally would have spent an hour or so wandering through, but Sami was with us and she gets terrified in a large crowd. The best option was to sit and have lunch and wait for the crowds to thin out.

We found a Vietnamese restaurant and were so excited to see that they had Pho. One of our all time favorite things and we couldn’t get seated fast enough!

We ordered to bowls of Pho with pork and shrimp and a side order of the chilled spring rolls also with shrimp. It has been years since we have had Pho and every bite was a reminder of home. Amazing food. Kim Long’s Restaurant, if you’re in the area . . . definitely do not miss!!

After lunch we toured through the central plage area, taking in the nice wide sidewalks and bike lanes. This town is definitely dog and bike friendly. Argeles-sur-Mer is also very bike friendly, but only in sections does it have wide, shaded lanes for both pedestrians and cyclists. In St. Cyprien, every street we walk on had wide sidewalks, most of them shaded by big trees and with nice lighting as well for evening strolls.

My first impression was the harbor and while nice I had been thinking that maybe it was a mistake to be looking for a rental property in this city. By the time we made it to the central plage and found where people really hang out the city had a much better feel to it. North of the harbor is the more laid-back section of town. Not quite as northern California “beach bum chic” as Argeles — which my soul does back flips over — more like yuppie surfer-dude feel of say a southern California beach like Santa Monica. Minus the ferris wheel.

After spending the day and getting oriented a bit, we decided that we definitely wouldn’t mind spending a year, or two, in St. Cyprien.

We’re sure Sami would agree. Her most favorite thing in the whole world is to get sand in her paws!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The €1 Bus in the Pyrénées-Orientales

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015 | Alan

One of the biggest bonuses with living in Argelès-sur-Mer within the Pyrénées-Orientales Department has been Le Bus à 1€ (the €1 Bus), a public transportation system providing bus service throughout the department with dozens of bus routes to scores of cities. This is an amazingly useful and economical way for Tracy and I to travel since we have elected not to buy a car.

With a €1 Bus stop 100 yards from our front door, it is actually more convenient for us to take the €1 Bus to Perpignan to go to the large supermarket shopping there than to walk to the smaller supermarket that is in Argelès. The current bus schedule list 19 buses a day from Argelès to Perpignan, Monday through Saturday, starting at 6:50 am until 8:40 pm. There is a reduced bus schedule on Sundays. In July and August there are additional routes during the summer season connecting the small beach towns along the Côte Vermeille. Additionally there is an expanded schedules for regular routes during these peak summer months.

The €1 Bus service is provided by the Conseil Général des Pyrénées-Orientales, an elected board of 31 Conseillers Généraux (one for each of the 31 Cantons of the Pyrénées-Orientales) and a Chairman. Members of the Conseiller Général are elected for a 6 year term. The Conseil Général decides public policy at the department level similar to the role and responsibilities of a county commission in the United States.

For the price of a single Euro each (currently about $1.11), we can reach nearly anywhere in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The tickets also allow transfers for two hours to other bus routes traveling in the same direction within the €1 Bus system. That means we can take the bus from Argelès to Perpignan for €1, do some shopping, get on a different bus still outbound within the two-hour transfer time limit, and go to Prade for lunch. A return ticket for €1 each will bring us back to Argelès. A traveler would spend more on gasoline than the €2 cost of a round-trip on the bus. (Currently gasoline costs about €1.37 a liter, about $1.50. There are 3.8 liters to a gallon, so gasoline would cost about $5.70 a gallon.)

The buses are clean, modern, and comfortable motor coaches. They are dog-friendly and Sami the MinPin can travel with us with the use of a travel bag while she is inside the bus. There are overhead racks for backpacks and under-the-bus-carriage storage for large suitcases or even bicycles. There are even several “Réso 66” stops, “Park and Ride” locations where commuters to park their cars for free and let the bus drive them to work or school. The bus drivers are friendly and helpful, but pretty much they exclusively speak French (if the drivers do speak a second language it’s most probably Spanish or Catalan.) But between our very basic French language skills, pointing at the stop we want on the map, or showing the driver a promotional brochure for a tourist sight, we have not had any problem communicating. (And there is always the red “Stop” button to indicate that you want off the bus.)

Tracy and I have been making great use of the €1 Bus for our Micro-Adventures. With just €4, a camera, a bottle of water, an inquisitive MinPin, and a picnic lunch, we have an entire day’s entertainment exploring in the Pyrénées-Orientales.