France 177 - Argeles Sur Mer/Boris and Carrie the chickens/ the train line does not have automated ticket machines

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So what were my first thoughts about the seaside town of Argeles Sur Mer? It is not the sort of place we head for these days . A sort of Skegness with sun or Blackpool with less tacky shops . Well that was my thoughts as we made the decision to spend a few days here relaxing by the Med. We needed to stop off to get away from driving . With the sun beating down at last it felt right to stop and take stock before moving on again . And of course after our aborted trip to Perpignan we still had a plan to see the Palace of the Kings of Majorca and we could do this easily from Argeles railway station . What we did not realise when we parked up at Camping Europe an ACSI site at 32 euros and 80 cents for two days that the next day would be full of could haves , would haves and should haves .

The camping site was about ten minutes walk from the plage with all its pop up shops, cafes, restaurants and the seaside promenade. The plots were large and the site mixed use of touring vans and static caravans. It was fairly empty as it had only opened a few days before . It was one of very few along the road that had opened for business . We were next to a Dutch couple . We spoke and he told us that he supported the oldest football team in Holland . A mere 120 years old . A baby compared to our local team founded in 1863. Everywhere had the feel of being off season . Of just closing down or in this case just opening up. There were avenues of pop up shops selling everything from white clothing to italian ice cream , from shoes and beach gear to galettes and burgers . In the height of summer all those alleys would have been chock a block and the smell of fried food and burgers would have perhaps been cloying .

Today it was empty and were able to walk down each avenue and see the hustle and bustle of the workers getting each shop ready to open. The promenade was lovely with trees providing shade . There were a few hardy souls on the beach sunbathing but no-one was braving the water . The Med looked blue but cold .

There were flowers everywhere . Nemesias that only flower in summer in the UK were in full bloom. Bird of Paradise flowers so exotic and Protea . There was a swimming pool on site but that had yet to open but it was surrounded by spring flowers . The facilities at the site were good. Free WiFi , washing machines at a small cost to use , no bar but then we were not bothered with not having one . Out of season Argeles ticked a lot of boxes for us . In season it probably would have been too busy and we would not have enjoyed it so much . We walked into the town a number of times .Once to top up supplies from the nearest Intemarche, a second time to buy a gelati , the third to wander along the promenade .

Sunday morning we had earmarked for our visit to Perpignan . We had checked the internet the night before . Yes the train ran on a Sunday and yes we could buy tickets on line . We should have done that but then you always know the best thing to do with hindsight . We had assumed that there would be a ticket office open where we could buy our tickets . If not then surely there would be an automated machine . We got up early and walked slowly to the gare . On entering the first thing we noticed was the closed ticket office . It only opened Monday to Friday . Not much use there then. I searched around for a ticket machine . Nothing except a sign that told me to go to Colliure miles down the road to buy a ticket . That was in the wrong direction . It seemed we got it all wrong and Perpignan was going to be missed again . Reminder to both of us - dont wait to go to the station just get the ticket on line and if that fails book an Uber taxi to take you where you want to go . We were disappointed and just walked back home and regrouped .

And then there were Boris and Carrie the odd looking chicken and rooster . Boris the rooster had feathers on his head which reminded us of our Prime Minister Boris and the lovely chicken was really odd with a bob on top of her head . Boris and Carrie sounded good names for the pair who entertained us all the rest of the day.

We walked a couple of times down to the promenade. It was lovely to walk along the sandy beach . This is the sort of thing that makes holidays worth while .



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