14 May 2010, Collioure, France

(I am really getting very frustrated with Blogspot as it takes ages to upload photos and then puts them in any old order. Then the labelling doesn't appear where I have put it in the draft - I may give up)

1.Collioure.

2.Leaving Montpellier
3.Collioure.

4.Collioure, the surrounding countryside.
5.The Castle and a typical anchovy boat.

1. 6.The clock tower on the church.

After Montpellier we still had a couple of days in France although Collioure is so close to the border it has absorbed many Spanish influences. I could call this chapter ‘brushes with modern and impressionist art of the weirder kind’ as Collioure was the haunt of the Fauvist painters at the turn of the 19th-20th C; Matisse, Derain, Picasso, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and others all hung out here and the town is full of references. And you can see why – it is really incredibly lovely. Arthur couldn’t stop taking photos around every corner. He is not alone, as we saw some very good examples of earlier photographs in galleries and shops. Incredibly, the town and beach was thick with snow in March this year and there are post cards which record that. In fact we thought that it couldn’t have been too far away while we were there as it was raining when we arrived and very cold and windy the next day, although the sun was shining.

Our hotel was in the old town, so we didn’t have far to walk to see everything. Parking is always a problem in these old towns but Arthur managed to find one in the street not far away which was OK as long as there wasn’t a torrential downpour which would cut out access to it!
The castle here is vast, very well preserved and has a very well set out tour, in English (self guided) and only cost 2euros per person for seniors (half full price) –excellent value.