Salvador Dalí

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I realized after I sent yesterday's blog that I didn't make it clear exactly where Collioure is (i.e. where I am). It is a French town on the Mediterranean Sea right near the border with Spain, i.e. just north of Barcelona. It is a cute little resort town populated largely by French tourists, although one does hear the occasional Spanish or English. I can definitely see the appeal of spending a relaxing vacation here - currently I am sitting at a bayside cafe, sipping white wine, and enjoying the breeze - but the reason I came here was to visit the Salvador Dali sights that are just across the border in Spain. Dali (see photo) was a surrealist artist who was born and lived most of his life nearby and there are two museums about an hour from here that I visited today. First up was the Dali Museum-Theater in Figueres. He designed this as an homage to himself and it definitely has some bizarre features. The egg-and-bread-loaf exterior is the first thing you notice (see photo), followed by the central courtyard which contains his Cadillac with personal modifications (see photo). There are plenty of other works by him, but I believe they are only a small minority of the massive number of works he produced in his life. A winding 45 minute drive brought me to the second Dali sight: his seaside home near Cadeques (see photo). The exterior looks normal enough, but each of the interior rooms has some unusual feature. For example, upon entering the house, one is greeted by a stuffed polar bear (see photo). I have always liked Dali well enough and after today I am prepared to see him as an artistic genius, but I don't really understand his art, if that is even the point. Tomorrow I intend to visit another "Modern Art" museum, so perhaps things will be clearer then.

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