La Côte de Vermeille- Day 1

Collioure, Roussillon - Not a bad view

This beautiful coastal village is where I spent my weekend. This is Collioure. Sitting on the Mediterranean sea, it's located in the Roussillon/Languedoc region of France that is technically French Catalan. It borders Spain (as in less than 15km) and the culture is far more Spanish than French. The specialties here (that I remember) are seafood, wine, and pottery. My program has weekend excursions and this was our first trip. We took the 5 hour bullet train from Paris to Perpignan, and then a bus from Perpignan to Collioure. I had to wake up entirely too early to catch the train, but it was worth it to watch the sun rise over the countryside of central and south France. 

Once we arrived in Collioure, where there was lots of cooing and awing from the bus ride down the cliffs, we were sent to our hotel- this adorable building. 

Le Mas de Citronniers- our weekend hotel

 And even though it was a hosted excursion, the majority of our time was free. Which was nice, because even though the village was seriously tiny, it had lots of tiny, winding alleyways that I never tired of. But my favorite part of the trip was being on the water. I'm not used to water that clear, and was really confused when the sun didn't set over the water. I forget sometimes that I'm very much west coast minded.

The jetties

I also realized during this trip that I don't talk about food on here often enough. Because I'm clearly a big fan. So I took pictures of our ice cream, and then was quickly distracted by the water, castle, and fort surrounding me. 

La glace- this was violet flavored, and I had melon. It was amazing. 

The first afternoon, I went to lunch at a café with friends and then we walked along the multiple beaches and jetties in the little bay. We even climbed up to an abbey that sits atop a rock. Where we were assaulted by wind and salty spray. Around 5pm our program took us on a "train" ride up the mountains, through the wineries, to Fort St. Elme. The train was a series of very touristy looking, rickety carts that moaned and cracked the entire way up. From the Fort we could see everything- but those pictures will come later, from the day we hiked up to it.

On the rocks 

View north from the abbey

Colorful buildings along the water

Atop the cliffs

I love the details all over little towns like this

Collioure is also particularly interesting for me, as it was one of the centers of Fauvism. Artists like Derain and Mauguin lived in Collioure and captured its monuments with their wild colors. There was a Fauve path all around town that brought you to these frames. Through them, you see the real image of some famous works. It was like the real thing was a recreation.

Le Chemin des Fauves

It was a relaxing first day, bathed in sun, that ended with a picnic dinner of bread, wine, and cheese on the beach. We could see stars and hear the waves crashing and it was beautiful.