Sunday, October 22, 2017

Port Vendres

Next morning, October 8th, we drove on, through Banyuls country, stopping quite early at an aire de camping-cars at Port Vendres, and from there we took the afternoon off to explore the little harbor.
Up and out of Cerebre

Signage for one of the hiking trails along the coast

A fete or festival about to begin

I bought a bottle of Banyuls, the local thing, and consumed it
a bit later; a sweet red (!), sort of like port, although lacking
the polish (IMHO)

At the aire in Port Vendres; camping-cars are everywhere, and
we would see even more, and even more campgrounds and
aires, in the next few days

Looking out to the sea

Walking around to the harbor, we began seeing these signs...
Charles Rennie Mackintosh did time in Port Vendres and painted
the place, and with this and numerous others, the French are
celebrating the famous Scot architect and designer..
.reallyThai'd things together for us...

Sculpture

We are beginning to understand that, although
we are in France, we are still in Catalan
country; we'll see why in a subsequent post (it's
not just the proximity)

Harbor at Port Vendres

More Mackintosh

More French/Catalan festivity

Eventually we spent a couple hours at this little hole-in-the-wall,
partly for the wifi and partly for the half dozen oysters and glass
of wine for 7 euros

More of Port Vendres


Cabana bibliotheque

Everything in French and in Catalan

Beautiful place

Cerebre: On To France

It was a great first day on the road, but we still had no place to stay overnight, and so we drove on.
There was a campground just below us near Selva; but we don't
do campgrounds very often

Rugged north Catalonian coast

More beautiful coves and towns




Last Spanish town before the frontier

And, just over the border, we find a beautiful little lay-by, not
an aire, officially, but we are not alone

Time to stop and make camp

The view

Just around the bend

Cerebre, France

A good place for my first seafood meal on the Mediterranean,
on this campaign, salmon and shrimp and a Ricard cream sauce

Monastery Of St. Peter of Rhodes, 2

Continuing our visit to the 9th century monastery of St. Peter of Rhodes, near Port Selva, Spain...
In the crypt

Emerging therefrom

Cloister

Capitals, definitely and beautifully Romanesque

Love this stuff

Refectory, now a classroom for cultural events

El Camino...

Porter's quarters

Staircase up the bell tower

View of cloister

Keep; so interesting the monastery would have a keep,
particularly with the fortress just up the hill; yet...9th
century...most of Europe had not yet emerged from the
predations of the Vikings, pirates, Moors, brigands of
other descriptions...Dark Ages

In the Keep

Looking up toward the fortress ruins

Port de Selva

Handy map of the area

Bell tower


Looking downhill toward the parking lot and our camper

Wild porcine pups on the grounds

Spare parts

Two towers