In Collioure: the Elne loop

October 29, 2024

There’s nothing that quite replaces good luck. Reading the NYT this morning, one of the headline articles is about the epic rainstorm that’s flooding coastal Spain from Valencia to Andalucia, with the region receiving the typical rainfall for a four month period in a single day. The Grampies are in Valencia right now so the first thing I did after reading the article was to reach out to make sure they hadn’t been washed out to sea (good news: they’re as fine as ever).

Over here just across the border in Collioure though, the weather is unexpectedly fair - a big change from the rains we expected for today just 24 hours ago. With a whole day unexpectedly available, we change our plans and decide to have dinner rather than lunch and leave the whole day free for a longer outing.

We leave the apartment at the same time, with Rachael staying around long enough to help me carry my bike down the stairs before walking off on the twelve miler she plotted out for herself. She won’t stick to the original plan - after about an hour a text from her pops up on my Garmin that she’s changing it because it’s too steep and rocky to feel safe - but it’s still an excellent walk, deserving of a full meal deal later this evening.

Sound track: Appalachian Spring (Moderato), by Aaron Copland

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On our bike ride here from Céret I was sorry to not be able to look inside the Romanesque church at Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines because there was a service in progress. On the other hand though, without the service I might have just biked past the church without even noticing it. I gave it a glance only because of the service, with the sound of singing coming from its opened doors.

I made a mental note that if we ever make it back to this region I’d like to return and peek inside. That feeling was reinforced later by a comment from Suzanne about the time she and Janos biked here themselves some years ago, and then Jacquie made me feel badly when she said she’d like a look at the carvings to the side of the lintel but I hadn’t taken a good enough photo of them to show her.

It took a night or two sleeping on it for it to sink in that I’m as close as I’ll ever be, and I could just bike back there from here on a day ride - and afterwards I could swing by Elne to check out its cloister that Suzanne spoke highly above; and then drop down to the coast on the way back to Collioure and check out the bay at Saint-Cyprien that I’d meant to ride out to yesterday.

So, my ride begins with my fourth crossing of those two annoying ridges east of town. To my pleasant surprise though, if I just stick to the main road the whole way they aren’t bad at all.

A look back toward Collioure from the ridge to the east.

The first ten miles of the ride are a backtrack to Saint-Génis so I don’t stop often. Still though it’s pretty slow going because I’ve got a sick bike. The gears are a mess and as a result I can only use my lower chainring so I seldom get much above 10 mph unless I’m coasting down a hill. I’m sure I must need a new chain and cluster, but I’m hoping I can limp in to Barcelona and wait to deal with the bike’s issues when we get home.

Outside a fire station in Argelès-sur-Mer.

I’m disappointed when I return to the church in Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines and find its portal locked. As long as I’m here though I can at least take a photo of the carvings around the lintel. I don’t know which one piqued Jacquie’s interest, so to be on the safe side I take shots of them all:

But then I see a sign that says to gain entrance through the visitor’s center which is right around the corner. It looks dark but I test the door and find it unlocked. The two women inside tell me the church is closed until two o’clock (it’s just turning noon now, so they’re bout to leave for lunch), and can I come back then? I wryly smile and say I can’t, so they tell me that if I’m quick about it they’ll wait for a few minutes. So kind! I’m quick about it. And here I’ll grab some context about the cloister from Suzanne’s post from 17 years ago:

As was the case with all church property during the French Revolution, in 1796 the abbey was confiscated and became national property. In 1922 the abbey saw yet another dramatic change. An antique dealer from Paris bought and dismantled most of the priceless cloister. Not until 1986 and thanks to the efforts of conservationists, were many of the stones brought back and reinstalled. By 1994 much of the original, including access to the church had been restored.

The cloister, Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines.

Capitals from the cloister, Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines. Notice in particular the turtle in the lower right. I’m pretty sure it’s a European pond turtle, but Bill might have other ideas.

Capitals from the cloister, Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines. According to my reference they’re carved from red marble from Céret.

Some flower boxes, Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines.

My next stop is the cathedral at Elne, eight miles away on the other side of the Tech River. Or so I think, but before I get there I’m held up by the unexpectedly interesting town of Ortaffa. Of special interest there is the Eiffel Tower of Ortaffa, its bell tower built in 1900 and inspired by the tower in Paris. When I first saw it I thought immediately of the Eiffel Tower, and as I was leaving a man walking by confirmed it was modeled after the original and said I should google it.

Conditions have been changing over the Albares Mountains all day long, making me wonder at times if I might see rain before the day is out.

This tower in Ortaffa is interesting - I’m pretty sure it’s residential now. What a classy place to have a condo!

This tower ahead caught my interest of course, and I had to detour to check it out.

I bikes past miles of plane trees today but I liked this line of them alongside the Tech on the way to Elne the best.

Elne startled me when I came to it, the fortified knoll at its center making me think of a Tuscan hill town. That wasn’t the only thing that set me aback though. Elne was obviously a prosperous and important place in the past (it was the provincial capitol of Roussillon before ceding the position to nearby Perpignan), but it’s another place I’d never heard of before. Money seeing it now by chance because Suzanne described it in the post she linked to me yesterday. There seems to be no end of places like this in France.

Elne’s fortifications, pine trees and blue sky immediately make me think of Italy.

Entering Elne through the Balaguer Gate.

Elne’s cathedral was consecrated in 1069 and hald its status for the next 500 years until the bishopric was moved to Perpignan. In the meantime it had a bloody history: in 1285, during the Aragonese Crusade, French troops sacked the town and massacred the townspeople who had taken refuge in the cathedral.

It’s easy to locate the cathedral once you’re inside Elne’s massive walls.

Cathédrale Sainte-Eulalie-et-Sainte-Julie d'Elne was consecrated in 1069 AD.

As impressed as I was by the cloister at Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines, the one in Elne is probably even better. Built between the 12th and 14th centuries, the capitals of its columns represent a variety of biblical themes intermixed with lions, griffons, peacocks and the like. I tried to correlate the capitals to the cheat sheet in English that I was provided when I entered, but it didn’t really help - I’m pretty sure I recognized Adam and Eve and the three magi, but failed on Saint Paul on the road to Damascus. I was right there with the lions, griffons and peacocks though.

The four walls of the cloister are labeled to indicate when they were completed - the earliest in the 12th century, and the last in the 14th.

Some of the capitals were over my head, but it was easy to appreciate the variety in the columns.

I’m pretty sure this is Sainte-Eulalie, martyred for refusing to renounce her faith.

The afternoon is getting on by the time I finally leave the cathedral. It’s obvious when I bike out of Ence that the town itself would be worth a look, but I’m running out of day and I still hope to see some birds down at Saint-Cyprien. And besides, I’ve seen enough wonders for one day and my wow muscles are getting fatigued. So I just bike down to the coast, find zero birds of interest - not even a coot - and head back to to Collioure. Two annoying ridges later I’m back in the apartment stuffing my face because I haven’t eaten anything since eight this morning and I need to get warmed up for dinner.

Another view of the mountains from the cathedral.

Approaching Collioure I finally take time to stop for a shot of Fort Carre.

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Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 4,526 miles (7,284 km)

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Suzanne GibsonWonderful that you got back to St. Génis and to Elne as well. Thanks for all the great pictures - I took very few pictures back then - to refresh my memory. Really beautiful places.
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