Ceret Encore!

For the last couple of days of Madame Susan and Monsieur Mark’s adventure, we left it up to them to choose how active/ busy they wanted to be. 

It was decided it was time to wind down a bit and we really hadn’t spent that much time in the area of Céret and Maureillas-las-Illas. 

Wednesday (25th September 2019) we headed into Céret for just a wander, a supply pickup (wine) and some lunch. 

We arrived mid morning. 

It was an overcast day with heavy clouds, the rain held off and the temperatures remained warm.

This is still a favourite view taken from the Ciel Bleu apartment balcony overlooking Place de la Liberte (September 2017). 

Céret is known as the “Mecca of Cubism”. 

Throughout the town you will find reproduction panels of paintings by famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andre Masson, Chaim Soutine, Juan Gris and many more. 

These panels are placed in locations where a view was painted by the artist ... so you can see the painting and the actual view. I believe there are 20 of these throughout the town.

 

This is a reproduction of “Les Platanes a Céret, Place de la Liberté 1920” by Chaim Soutine, English translation “the Plane Trees in Céret. 

We wandered throughout the town, checking out various shops and sights.  

It might have been laundry day for some ...

Then it soon became the obligatory hour for “dejeuner” ... lunch. 

No alfresco lunch today. 

It was warm enough but the clouds looked heavy with rain so we opted for an inside table at Quattrocento. 

A delicious lunch and wine was enjoyed. 

Our starter ....

After lunch we each ventured on our own ... for us it was a memory walk and for Madame Susan and Monsieur Mark a time for them to explore on their own. 

Of course, Monsieur Honey needed to stop in at the Brocante. 

Here we saw a depiction of the Place des Neuf Jets (the square where we had just had lunch). 

Some street art in Ceret 

We rendezvoused at Bar Pablo for an apero before heading back to Maureillas-las-Illas 

Our last stop of the day was the supermarket for some of Madame Susan’s favourite in France ... 

on our shopping list today.

I’ll be back soon, for now I’m going to go enjoy the sunshine and sea air in Florida ... I’ve promised myself to finish the posts! 

A Taste of Céret

Our first couple of days were spent in and around Maureillas-las-Illas.

Early morning view from the Juliet balcony in our third floor master bedroom. 

We headed to Céret for a wander, lunch and a grocery shop at a larger supermarket. 

The Modern Art Museum ...

The sails/kites flying in the wind on Rue Saint-Ferréol 

The Maire ...

A colourful street ... 

Some owls hanging around in one of the shops ...

Lunch in Place des Neuf Jets at Quattrocento ... with views of the fountain that dates back to 1313.

The obligatory photo in front of Picasso’s fountain ... Madame Susan et Monsieur Mark.

Night time views from the upper terrace off of the fourth floor master suite ... where we enjoyed evening aperos.

Ceret is a favour spot of Monsieur Honey and I. 

Market Day in Céret

Saturday, May 11th-2019 

Today our road trip is taking us to the “Deep South” of France to share the Céret market experience with Jennifer. 

Céret is probably one of our most favourite spots with plane tree lined streets and it has just enough going on in the town with a good café /restaurant scene, many local shops plus larger grocery stores and of course there is the fantastic Saturday market that winds all the way around the centre of town. 

Céret is located at the foothills of the Pyrenees, very close to Spain ... in fact, today as we exited from the auto route, the built in GPS took us thru Spain and then back into Céret. 

Not sure if we missed something but when we returned back to Montlaur the Gendarmerie had our usual road closed off. 

Who knows ... maybe the GPS satellite knew the road was closed. 

Even with an early start, we arrived later than anticipated due to the detour through Spain ... Jennifer can say she also went to Spain! Haha! 

Remember this place ... overlooking Place de la Liberté with stunning views over the tiled roofs and mountains. 

We stayed at this apartment on three separate occasions. 

 

Here’s a memory from 4 years ago ... Monsieur Honey snuck out to buy me some flowers! 

The market was as busy as always even with the threat of rain. 

This vendor was hoping to cash in on the weather ... selling “parapluies”.

Luckily we didn’t need one! It only rained when we were inside. 

We wandered, checking out the various vendors selling their products and wares.

And of course it was cherry season ... a must buy! 

They were juicy and sweet! 

And every year the last weekend in May, there is a Cherry Festival. 

We had hoped to eat alfresco in the “Place des Neuf Jets” but the weather man or was it Mother Nature had other plans, neither of whom were cooperating. 

The sky was dark and threatening rain.

We had reserved a table at Quattrocento where we enjoyed a delicious lunch  « a l’intérieur «. 

A little more strolling after lunch to be able see without the market stalls set up. 

Picasso’s fountain ...



A street view with the giant plane trees ...

We discovered some “street art” paintings on walls ... I didn't know anything about these previously, after some searching I found an article from November 2017  in the P-O Life magazine.

Here’s an excerpt ... New Faces in Cerét by written Elaine Koerner.

The artist behind the faces prefers to be known only as FAS.
“I am very proud of our artistic history,” explains FAS, who lives in Céret with his family.
“I decided to create these portraits in tribute to a handful of the many painters and other artists who either were locals or else were drawn to Céret’s charms as visitors. My portraits include both well-known and lesser-known painters.”

His portrait project got started more than a year ago after he received a thumbs up from the Mairie.

There is suppose to be six to nine of these throughout the town. If interested you can read the whole article online.

The beautiful bottle brush plant ...



And one last stop at Bar Pablo before leaving town ... 

À bientôt Céret!