November 5, 2010
Perpignan to Collioure
WEATHER: BEAUTIFULLY SUNNY AND WARM
We left Perpignan riding past the Castillet and along a bike path near the park. We made our way through the built up southeast part of the city past the university, and eventually the road became more rural. We had planned to stop in Elne, only about 14 km down the road because it was reputed to be a picturesque village with an interesting church cloister. We arrived during a busy market which blocked the main street, so we circled uphill and around behind the cathedral. We found a scenic overlook near a restaurant which was supposed to open at noon, in about a half hour. We took photos and chatted with a fellow who went to school in the building we were standing near. We ended up eating a good lunch at a different restaurant attached to the Hotel Cara-Sol with a lovely outdoor terrace overlooking the village. It was one of the better lunches of the trip: a salad with olives, anchovies, shrimps, followed by Irish lamb stew(!) and an excellent tarte citron.
After lunch we cycled back uphill to the cathedral and Eva went in to take photos of the cloister, which was interesting, while Al stayed with the bikes. Then we walked our bikes down a very steep lane to the main street (the market had finished) and made our way out of town and through the countryside towards the coast. We went past lots of fields and came to another highway with a bike lane (the only way to get across the river on a bridge). We ended up riding on that highway through Argeles-Plage, a deserted holiday resort area that would have been horribly crowded in the summer, then another 4 km up and over to Collioure. We started down a steep hill leading into the centre of town, and our B&B, Villa Miranda, was about halfway down.
Villa Miranda was an excellent place to stay. Our very bright room opened to a terrace overlooking all of Collioure. The bathroom had a fancy shower and there was a lounge area with a fridge and tea and coffee facilities. In the back garden was a steep staircase leading right down towards the centre of Collioure, which was incredibly picturesque, with four stone forts visible and a quiet harbour. In the summer it would be very crowded and not at all pleasant, but in early November, with the warm sun shining and hardly any tourists around, it was great. A lot of the restaurants and hotels were already closed for the season. We wanted to explore the town while the sun was still out in case the next day would be cloudy. We stopped at a grocery store and bought some milk and individual cheese portions since we had a fridge at our lodging, and we discovered a very fancy take out dessert shop which merited a further look.
Dinner that night was the only time on the trip that we felt ripped off. The Copacabana restaurant (we should have known better from the name) located right at the centre of the harbour, could have been on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. The dinner was overpriced and forgettable.
Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 814 km (505 miles)
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