With the apartment and car sold and legal documents signed we are feeling a lot more relaxed. We have heard about the hassles an English couple are currently having while trying to sell their apartment and it sounds terrible. We have been extremely fortunate with how everything has panned out for us.
Today, Monday, we planned a leisurely trip into Perpignan, mainly to have lunch at our favourite little Moroccan restaurant. We usually go there once or twice each year and are never disappointed by the tasty dishes and also chatting with the very friendly Moroccan owner. The 3-course menu of the day typically costs about 16 Euro, including wine. We checked on the website, which had recently been updated, that the restaurant was indeed open, as some aren't on a Monday. It wasn't possible to ring up and double-check closer to midday because we were jumping on the 10am bus.
Hence, it was very disappointing to stand outside the restaurant when we arrived in Perpignan and find its doors all tightly shut. Darn. We don't know if it was a one-off closure or it is closed every Monday because there was no notice on the window nor reference on the website. Wandering around Perpignan we soon realised that virtually all the shops and restaurants were closed. The cafes and restaurants were open, and the odd shop, but that was it. In the end we found a small Chinese/Japanese restaurant and had a very nice light lunch. John chose a ramen soup, and we both reminisced about the delicious meals we have had in Japan.
Rather surprisingly we found ourselves on the bus back to Ceret at 2pm. With no shops to peruse, there really wasn't much else to do. Rain was threatening again so we rather favoured heading home to a cup of tea!
 |
| Perpignan Town Hall |
 |
| Perpignan cathedral |
It looks as though the weather pattern is changing. From today (Tuesday) onwards the forecast is for sunny weather and temperatures ranging between 26 and 28 degrees for each of the next ten days except for one. The cafe and restaurant owners in town will be well pleased, because their outdoor seating has been virtually vacant for the last few months.
Given the nice weather and our plan to get out and do as many of our walking tracks as possible before we go, we headed up the valley mid-morning Tuesday to the small town of Arles-sur-Tech. There is a lovely trek that goes up into the Pyrenean foothills above Arles.We've done it twice before, in 2013 and 2015. I'd been hoping we'd get a chance to tackle it one last time. With nearly 700m of climb, and a rugged track, we negotiated it in two hours and were rewarded with stunning views both up the valley towards Spain and all the way out to the coast in the opposite direction. The French had constructed a Vauban gun battery there in the late 1700s, and the structure was still relatively intact. The task of constructing a track between the site selected for the battery and Arles down in the valley was immense, and was done twice, because you can visit it on a loop walk. In one direction the track is quite narrow and in the other the route wide enough to cope with horses pulling up cannons and supplies was hacked out of the hillside.
 |
| The uphill track |
 |
| Standing at the base of the Vauban battery |
 |
| View up the valley looking towards Spain |
 |
| The highest spot, complete with Catalan flag |
 |
| The widened downhill route, bolstered by well constructed rock walls |
On the way back down we passed a lovely wee chapel, Santa Engracia. It is clearly still very well used, with the grounds around it smartly maintained and scattered with picnic tables. To get there, however, requires a steady climb, so perhaps the worshippers can't be too elderly.
 |
| Santa Engracia chapel |
 |
| Dragon lock on the chapel door |
 |
| Fun sculptures near the chapel |
It was with a small sigh of relief that we arrived back at the car after the four hour trip. It was very steep both up and downhill. We quickly tanked up on fluids when we got home, put our feet up and enjoyed watching some Roland Garros tennis. We also put our down pillows into the machine to give them a wash before we take them back to NZ. We find them super comfortable.
A friend came around a little while later to collect a woollen coat I'm not taking back home. We are giving away as much as we can. A painter friend is very happy to take some picture frames off our hands - we had to take the paintings out of the frames so they would be a bit lighter and also fit in the bike box we've made up to transport them.
