Argeles sur Mer

We have left the house in the Dordogne where we very happily spent the last two months. We drove about four hours south to the Roussillon region of France where we have rented an apartment for the next ten days. We are right on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea in the Cote Vermeille. A stone’s throw from the border of Spain, the apartment is in Argeles sur Mer, the last of miles of beach towns. The snow-capped Pyrenees rise up close by in contrast to the sea and the beach.

Our apartment is very comfortable and spacious. We have a large balcony that overlooks a grassy area with numerous pine trees, the sandy beach to the Mediterranean Sea less than a hundred yards away. There has been a pleasant breeze but no sign of those crazy mistrals. The owners of this apartment unit are a retired MacDonald Douglas engineer and his very talented artist wife who lived in Quebec. The apartment is well equipped and they had thoughtfully stocked it with enough provisions - coffee, croissants, butter, preserves, and baguette - that we didn’t have to go out shopping s soon as we arrived. They call the apartment “La Petite Reine”, a reference to bicycles which they provide for the use of renters.

http://www.la-petite-reine-argeles.com/


The French flock to these beaches in the summer months, but right now the towns are just waking up from the winter and there is evidence everywhere of clean up, fresh painting and renovations to cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, wine outlets, and sports rental stores - all the tourist could want. If Wasaga Beach had done it right, it would have copied this area. Ice cream stores, restaurants boasting mussels, oysters, pizza, paella, seafood and fresh fish, theme parks, stores selling regional and Catalan products, are everywhere making you wonder how they can all make a living. For now we have the beach and all to ourselves. The weather has been sunny each day with the temperature reaching 20 Celsius (70 degrees).

A few miles further towards Spain there are a series of active fishing villages with old forts, harbors of pleasure boats and fishing craft, and seafood and Catalan restaurants with patio seating to the water’s edge. We have watched the unloading of the day’s catch or the exchange of goods from huge container ships with their home ports listed as Germany, Moravia or Indonesia.

The shops and houses are painted with the pastel Mediterranean colors with which you are very familiar. Bright painted tiles and red roof tiles complete the picture. Anchovies, not the same as the salty ones you pick off your pizza, Roussillon wine, vinegars and oils, painted pottery, and cotton clothing are some of the most common products of the area. We have seen people lying on the beach but mostly couples of all ages and families are content to walk about or sit in outdoor cafes enjoying the weather or watching the world go by.

More about the food later.

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