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. 

Annie Lennox’s Sweet Dreams in Catalonia!

#Catalonia #Frenchtravels#mediterranean#museeduliege#corkmuseum#collioure#perpignan#racouplage#ceret

#figueres#roses

Monday, 16th of September - Saturday, 28th of September 

This post is just an overview of our time spent in this area ... I’ll be writing and sharing photos in other posts about our specific activities and locations. 

We are now based in the “Deep South” of France in the small rural commune of Maureillas-las-Illas. We are about a 10-minute drive east of Céret and very near the Spanish border, with easy access to the Mediterranean coast and Spain.

The commune is an arrondissement of Céret. 

Our « home away from home «  is set against the backdrop of the Pyrénées with stunning views from three of the four floors of the house. Each view is different. 

After off loading our bags, we wandered into the square for a celebratory drink at El Tap which is right around the corner; you see it was a busy day of visiting Arles and then the 2 1/2 hour drive. 

The interior is rustic and decorated with plenty of cork art and « Catalonia » fabrics. 

Here's Madame Susan enjoying her « pression » beer.

When I look at our photos and my diary, I’d say we had a busy time with a bit of down time.

During our time here we visited and experienced many different towns, etc.

-  Céret a few times including a rainy Saturday “Market Day”

- Argeles-sur-Mer at Racou Plage for a beach day 

-  visited Musee du Liege (Cork Museum) in Maureillas-las-Illas 

-  a day in Perpignan

-  Madame Susan and Monsieur Mark did the cork forest walk with our landlady 

-  a day in Spain ... Figueres(Jordi Ceramica & lets not forget the Wine Palace) then on to Roses

-  a day in Collioure

 

-  a couple days here and there when we just stayed in the village of Maureillas-las-Illas.

I’ll be back soon with more ... 

From Provence to Catalonia - Lunch with VanGogh in Arles

We said “au revoir” or actually I like to think we said “a bientôt” to Saint-Remy de Provence. 

We’re moving on to the Deep South of France near the Spanish border today ... Monday, September 16th. 

Enroute we are going to take in one more place in Provence. 

Our planned stop was in Arles (pronounced arl) which was built along the Rhône River.

We parked in a lot near the train station and first walked along the river to view one of the many Van Gogh easels. 

La Nuit Étoilée ... Starry Night over the Rhône ... not to be confused with his other « Starry Night » painting he did while staying at the hospital in Saint-Remy de Provence.

There was a local artist set up with his easel painting as we were looking for this panel; he pointed us in the right direction and told us to look at the bridge to visualize what Van Gogh saw.

Nos amis. 

Reflection of the bridge in the Rhône ... 

From here we wandered into old Arles through the Cavalerie Gate down Rue Volitaire.

Van Gogh walked into town down this street in 1888. 

The fountain pictured below was only a year old then. 

The mosaic is said to « celebrate the high culture of Provence ».

In the 19th century this neighbourhood was Arles’ red light district ... not so today. 

We continued our wander towards the Roman Arena (Amphitheater) ... you can see it in the background as you walk down these streets.

Can you see the arena just up ahead, you can take the left or right street ...

Here was another one of Van Gogh’s easels ... Les Arènes d’Arles ... the Arena.

The 2000 plus year old arena is still in use today ... 

The birds found the perfect spot to cool off ...





Soon we found another easel of one of Van Gogh’s famous paintings in Place du Forum ...

Le Café Le Soir / Café Terrace at Night.

Monsieur Honey and I are not your typical tourists when we travel ... today was an exception. 

Our group was lured into La Café de la Nuit by the very attentive, friendly hostess. 

Vincent Van Gogh’s painting depicts the café in a bright yellow from the glow of the surrounding gas lamps. 

This yellow was not unlike the sunflower yellow I once painted our guest room in the schoolhouse many years ago. 

But in actual fact the facade was white limestone similar to the other cafés in the square. 
Whoever painted the facade to match Van Gogh’s version ... had a brilliant idea to draw in the tourists!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch and some wine of course ...

The setting was perfect ...

And for a moment I thought “Vincent” himself was sitting beside us at the next table ...

 

After lunch we wandered a bit more ...

A bucket of painter’s brushes; how apropos in the town of Arles.

Such unique store signs ...

A pretty lane ...

I’m going to leave you with this ... I clicked the “shutter” on my camera many times today taking lots of photos of beautiful “shutters”. 

The traditional shutters in the “Old Town” are strictly protected; there are many styles but they cannot be changed.  

Note: I think I will do a separate post about Arles’ shutters. 

We had a busy day playing tourists in Arles then we drove  approximately 2 1/2 hours  to Maureillas-las-Illas. 

We arrived late afternoon (5pm) ... a quick shop and we were ready to enjoy our first night in Maureillas-las-Illas. 

    

More to come ...