France 176 - Elna/Elna- depends how you want to say it/ a night at Bram/a pansy on top of the meal

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Our next overnight stop was a small out of town aire in the tiny village of Bram . It was a decent site with automatic barries , a dump, free water, a fishing lake and was very quiet . We shared our night stop with two others. It had no infrastructure to speak of and we were only using it as a nightstop.

Leaving the site we headed off to the town of Elne or Elna depending if you used French or the local dialect . We had planned a night stop on a camping car site . We had topped up the card before leaving home so it was only a case of finding the site, putting the card in the machine and it should let us in . We had heard some poor reports on Camping Car sites . They took over many of the old municipal camping sites and local town aires and at first seemed to keep them in top class order . However reviews later showed that they had rapidly gone downhill . The night stop was close enough to walk into Elne and close enough to walk to the gare to catch the train into Perpignan . Or at least that was the plan .

Elne was in the department of the Pyreenees Orientales and the mountains were very beautiful covered in crisp white snow . Against the blue sky they looked pristine. The town is a reasonable size with a population of just under 10,000. Just what we like .

Our first site of the campsite was not favourable . I struggled with the machine but eventually the barrier lifted and we could drive in . It had been an old campsite and looked derelict . The information boards were neglected and the grass long and unkept . We parked up . Our neighbours were around the corner and we were in a relatively sheltered spot but there was a lot of noise from the nearby road . There were two toilet blocks which I went over to in order to investigate . The first was boarded up and looked as if it had been that way for a long time . The second had been boarded up but someone had ripped the boards down . Inside it was a mess. What had once been showers and washing facilities was full of leaves and debris. The third block looked cleaner but that too was boarded up. We sat for a while horrified as the mess and made the decision we would walk up to the town and then drive off to the seaside and stop at a campsite . We needed water, we needed showers and we could not stand this place for two days . The only saving grace was the appearance of a Hoopoe who delighted us by standing and allowing us to photograph this elusive bird.

The walk up to the town was without any pavements. We eventually reached the streets which were full of the traditional Saturday market. And what a market. Along with the thriving shops there was on offer roasted chickens and panfuls of Paella , clothing to flowers and plants for the garden and every manner of thing you could think of . It felt that all the inhabitants of Elne were there doing their weekly shop. We earmarked it for a visit and a shop on the way back down the town . It was uphill all the way. We climbed first through the gateway and climbed the steps to the belvedere where we had a lovely view over the town and towards those snow covered mountains . The air felt crisp clear. The sun was shining and this was proving the best sunny day of the holiday . T Shirts and shorts weather .

It was clear that Elne was divided into upper and lower towns each fortified with towers , gates and very high curtain walls. The upper town was occupied by the very large Cathedral of Sainte Eulalie and Sainte Julie . It looked pretty impressive but the front doors were slammed shut . We walked around the back of the Romanesque building and found ourselves with a choice . Not see the cathedral inside or pay to see both the cathedral and the cloisters . Having been in the cloisters at Moissac just a few days ago we decided to give this one a miss .

It was time for lunch and that was the one thing on our mind . There were no other restaurants up in the upper town other than Caro Sol. It was empty but then it was not quite 11.45 but it did have a menu board outside which advertise a menu of the day plus an al a carte menu. The menu of the day was perused and seemed a good choice at 18 euros for two courses . The two courses could have been a starter and a main meal , a main meal and a dessert or a main meal and a coffee . We went in and booked in for 12. We could have sat outside but the heat of the day was getting a little too oppressive . Inside felt cool and inviting . So where did we start ? A non alcoholic lager for the driver as he had to drive on to Argeles later that day. I chose an aperatif - a Banyul sweet dessert wine. Thick and syrupy it lined my stomach well and sat well on the palate . Yes good choice for both of us . The next course was presented on flat rectangular plates laced with balsamic dressing . We had chosen pork of which there were four pieces neatly placed around a bed of pasta which in turn was covered in a mustard dressing . It all went down well and felt much better value than the meal at the Halle de la Machines . The dessert was a Tiramisu Corfee . It was Ok but the cream was very sickly and the sponge felt dry . Similar to a sponge that you put in the bottom of a trifle without soaking it in sherry. The meal was completed with an excellent espresso which set us up for the walk back down town and through the market . The plan to stock up on bread and chicken fell flat as by this time the market had packed up and all the stallholders gone home.

We walked back to the sad looking aire and felt sorry that it had not worked out as planned . But that happens sometimes in life and camping is no different .

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