It started out a sad-looking grey day, but that didn’t stop
me. I needed a France fix and so I was
off to Collioure. My friend Jaye had
warned me that if I was coming for the weekly market, I wouldn’t find many
stalls open, as everyone was recuperating from Christmas. What she didn’t tell me was that, in fact,
practically the whole village was closed.
I had gone to look for Marseille bath soap and curtains
for the living room. Removing the window
shades that came with the apartment has resulted in my being on view to the
neighbors. The solution -- having the
shutters down -- means being in the dark during the day. I need curtains.
Once I had ascertained that Collioure was shut
down, I went in pursuit of coffee and some sights to see. I found the famous bar Les Templiers that the
early 20th century artists such as Matisse, Picasso, and Dufy once
frequented. In fact, their pictures still
hang on the walls, obtained, I believe in lieu of payment for their coffees and
absinthes. All I had was a coffee with
milk, there being no croissants. That
alone cost me 2.90 euros. That’s
expensive, even for France. It’s no
wonder those artists had to barter with their paintings.
I figured sightseeing was free, so I found my way
to the village cemetery. Not everyone
likes to visit cemeteries on their vacation, but they have always been a
favorite with me. In fact, one of my
best vacation memories is my visit to the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris where
I found the graves of Chopin and Edith Piaf and was impressed with how many
people were still commemorating them with flowers. In Collioure I found the grave of the Spanish
poet Antonio Machado who died in 1939, soon after coming to Collioure to escape
Franco.
Lunch was at Le Saint-Elme, a very friendly and
lively neighborhood restaurant that has couscous as its special on
Wednesdays. Most people were having the
couscous and that’s what I had too. It
consisted of a grilled chicken leg, a meat ball made of lamb, and a sausage
flavored with a hint of fennel, served on a bed of couscous accompanied by
vegetables stewed in a sauce that were served in a casserole equipped with a
ladle. With a glass of red wine, lunch
was 18 euros and very well worth it.
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| Ape 50 |
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| Asking for permission to photograph someone's dog always succeeds |
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