Disappointment

 

When I recently called ahead to my favorite restaurant, El Pont Vell in Besalú, to reserve a table, I was, of course, disappointed when they told me they would be closed that day. That being a Sunday, I was also surprised. Closed? Yes, closed. In fact, the whole village would be closed. They would be filming a Bollywood movie that day and much of the village would be closed off. So I went somewhere else, somewhere new, recommended to me by an acquaintance, where the restaurant was attractive, the food was excellent, but the view was of an ugly street and so it wasn’t the wonderful experience I always have in Besalú. This morning I decided I would have that wonderful experience again. It seemed too early to call, so I figured I would call to reserve once I got there.

I bumped my way into a dirt parking lot and walked into the village. It was hot. This was why I hadn’t decided beforehand if I would be coming today or not. But the weather forecast was for two degrees (celsius) cooler than yesterday, and if I didn’t seize the day and instead waited for good (cool) weather I would be waiting til the fall.

Some huge equipment lumbered past me as I was walking in and just as I got past the huge plaza and to the narrow passage that leads into the oldest part of town, I saw what they were up to. They were tearing down a building. But not just any building. They were tearing down the Cafe Spendide, that evocative semi-ruin that I had photographed last year. How could they! Such a charming old place. Couldn’t they have refurbished it and put it to good use?

That question was answered for me by the antiquarian whose shop is just a few feet away from the demolition zone. That had never been a cafe. About a year ago, when they were filming some other movie, they had painted that sign on the wall and distressed it to make it look old. It was supposed to be a cafe in Marseille. Could have fooled me. Did fool me. No wonder, when I saw it last year, I didn’t remember ever having seen it before.

On my way to find a coffee and sit and relax and recover, I called the Pont Vell. There was no answer and their message referred me to their Whatsapp for reservations. So I sent a Whatsapp and almost immediately received a response. They were on vacation and would reopen on 5 July.

I took solace in my coffee and raspberry muffin – a rare find in a country where about 95% of all muffins are of one flavor, your basic yellow cake flavor. A trip to Besalú is never wasted because the place is always beautiful. There is the Fluvià river, the picturesque medieval bridge, all the beautiful medieval stone buildings, the wonderful 12^th century, romanesque parish church and just the feel of it all. It’s no wonder people come from all over the world to film movies there.

And as my friend Evie always says, we make plans, and God laughs.