Collioure for lunch

Leaving Merindol at around 0915 on Saturday, we took to the motorway en route to Barcelona sad to say goodbye to our French villa until next time.

The plan today was really just to cover the 490 kilometres required but with built in time for a nice lunch stop. Collioure, on the last part of the French coast, had been recommended by one of Australian colleagues who had attended the conference and so we plugged that into Yvonne, our reliable GPS.

What a stunning spot Collioure proved to be!

Only 26 Kms from the Spanish border, Collioure is an enchanting village with several beaches, many restaurants and cafes, a castle and allegedly the best anchovies in the world!

Parking was the usual challenge but eventually Pablo (the third) was safely parked and we were scouting out places for lunch. Many photos later we were sipping sangria and downing seafood with families, couples and singles taking a dip in the warm seas in front of us – some with and some without tops and several who should have had tops!

There were many tourists enjoying perfect weather but happily it wasn’t packed as I suspect it might be later in the year. I think this gorgeous village could easily figure prominently in our next European itinerary.

I also found a great little shop selling gorgeous pottery and purchased a few small pieces that I will hopefully manage to get home unscathed. The shop lady asked me where I was from and when I said Australia, she proceeded to tell me that the “big blonde famous TV lady from Australia” had bought up big in her shop.

Eventually she recalled her name – it was none other than Kerri Anne Kennerley!

Nice to know Kerri Anne and I have similar taste, I think.

Unfortunately, with Barcelona beckoning it was eventually time to leave this idyllic spot ( have I said that enough?) but I have found a rental cottage online just in case we have a chance to return one day!