A trip to Spain

We are away for a two day trip to Spain for an early celebration of John's birthday. We are staying at Llafranc on the coast at about the level of Girona. On the way down, we stopped for lunch at Mas Pi, a restaurant in a small town Verges where we have been before. As previously, we had a good meal and the restaurant was very busy.

 

Verges is a small walled town with little obvious commerce. There are the usual sleepy squares and ancient churches.

 

 

But there were also signs of a fete in progress - the streets were decorated and a stage was being constructed.

Our hotel, El Far de Sant Sebastià, named after the lighthouse next door, is on a cliff, overlooking the sea above Llafranc .

The main building of the hotel is 17th century and the watchtower attached is 15th century. It has 9 luxurious rooms and a large restaurant. This is the internal courtyard.

From the terrace

This was the view from our breakfast table

The walk down to Llafranc is along the coast and we stopped several times to go down steps to the sea. Here are some of the views.

 

John down by the sea

Llafranc from the road above

The beach at Llafranc- empty in late September

We ate at a small family restaurant that we had been to before. In the evening, we took a taxi to the next seaside fishing village, Calella de Palafrugell and revisited an excellent tapas bar.

After breakfast on the second morning, it was time to make our way home, calling in at small medieval inland villages. Both were walled circulades - defensive structures many hundreds of years old.

The first was Peratallada. We knew that this would be a tourist village when we saw the SAGA coach in the car park. The village has a number of restaurants plus a few tourisy shops, but none of these spoil the village, as can sometimes be the case.

 

After a tour of the village and a cup of tea, we move on the a nearby village Palau-Sator. This is a much smaller village with no shops, that we saw, but several restaurants and a most intriguing tower

This is the water source

 

and (presumably) the washing bath

 

 

By now it was lunch time, so we sat down in a small restaurant

 

 

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A day out with the UNRPA

On Monday, we joined a day trip out with the UNRPA: the local union of the retired on the village. Our bus left at 7.15 and we drove north, along the motorway in the direction of Millau. Our first stop was the town of Nant where a local guide showed us around.

The village square with the Mairie on the right.

The 11th century church of St Pierre surrounded by House Martins.

A water source outside the church with cat looking for fish.

 

Some of our group outside the church listening to the guide

Inside the church, which is dark and austere. The back of the altar is a semi-circle.

Our next stop was a chocolate shop where they made their own chocolates, biscuits and sweets. We were given a talk on the flavourings that they use and the iniquities of some bakers who using aromas from a can to enhance their products. Then we were free to taste and buy chocolate.

So now it was time for lunch, usually the most important part of any tour. We drove to the Domaine de Gaillac for lunch,

 

where pork was roasting on the fire.

After a good lunch, we drove on to Sainte Eulalie de Cernon, a beautiful and unspoilt walled Templar village

 

 

Our last visit was a train trip through the countryside. The weather was not at its best, but nevertheless, we were able to see the villages of Lapanouse de Cernon, la bastide de Pradines and the gorges de Cernon.

 

 

The station provided a backdrop for the group photo which will be published in the local newspaper.

 

So then it was time for the drive home and a quick dash to the local shops for some bread for the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The local vendange as in days gone by

One of the small, local wine domains decided to have an event to show how the grape harvest (vendange) was done in days gone by - this was not a spectator event. We were encouraged to dress appropriately and so we did. The event was scheduled to start at 08.30, so we turned up at 9 (we were caught out before when we went to an olive picking day).

When we arrived, there wasn't much going on, but we wandered around looking at the animals

Preparations where being made for our lunch, was this a friend of the above?

We were almost at the point of going home for a coffee, when people started wandering off to the paddock. Here, horses were being attached to carts and carts assigned to people.

Priority was given to the young and the old, plus those in fancy dress - we were assigned a cart.

Then the procession headed off for the fields. Those who were not lucky enough to get a place in a cart walked along beside the carts. The cart in front of us here has all the crates ready for us to fill.

Our cart was near the front of the procession and behind us we had a horse with a mind of its own. It seemed to want to overtake us and had to be accompanied by his handler at all times.

We were accompanied by men on bikes, who were ready to stop the traffic for us until we reached the side roads. When we reached the vines, the crates were unloaded the horses had a rest.

 

Now it was our turn to work and pick the grapes

After about an hour, we were finished

The barrels were loaded onto the lead cart and we set off for the centre of the village.

Now, we re boarded the carts

and went to pay our respects to Marianne, the symbol of France, in the centre of the village where we paused for the photo opportunity and a trip home to the loo!.

When we got back to the domain, lunch was being prepared.

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, eating, drinking and chatting with a group of French and Australians.

So we enjoyed a great day out in the sun and the fields.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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