What a fabulous day we've had today. We left the house at 9am, though initially only got as far away as a few blocks, i.e. to the dental clinic. Over the last 10 years we've had dental inspections/cleans done here a number of times, at vastly less expense than in Nelson. I was keen to get a checkup done this year (John had to have one done at home earlier in the year). It wasn't possible to make a booking online (we're in France!), and there was no response to the email I submitted a week ago, so we thought we'd call in. The receptionist was very helpful. No problem, except the earliest appointment available was in the first week of December. Hmm. Maybe not. We'll have to give it away for this year.
On the road and we were soon over the pass in the Pyrenees and whizzing through Spain. Our destination for tonight was Palamos, only 1.5 hours from Ceret. A mid-morning stop-off for a coffee in Verges was a great success. It's a nice old town, clearly well cared for and brimming with character and appeal. One place immediately took front and centre in our vision. That is, it had a For Sale sign. It included a two-storied round tower. Now, there's a thought. Although the town appealed, it was rather stranded between the Pyrenees and the coast, so not in a good location in terms of access links.
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| Verges main square and cafe-restaurant |
We wisely decided to jump back in the car before we could be tempted further. By 11:15am we were parked up in Palamos, virtually adjacent to where our walk for the day started. We have done this walk perhaps 3-4 times, and never tire of it. The track borders the coastline and in places marches along in front of tiny little holiday house settlements or along the beach itself. Over an hour later we reached a headland containing the ruins of an old Iberian settlement, which was inhabited between 600BC - 100AD. It's in a perfect location, easily defendable by its precipitous cliffs and narrow land linkage with the surrounding land.
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| Holiday houses, once fishermen's cottages |
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| Iberian ruins |
The day had started out pretty windy and around 18 degrees, but after the wind dropped the temperature rose to the mid-20s. We'd spied a great little eatery in one of the bays, Platja de la Fosca, on the walk out, so stopped off on our return leg around 2pm-ish for lunch. Spot on Spanish lunchtime. We both ordered seafood for the entree and main courses, which was one of our aims for our short trip here. We love the wide variety of seafood dishes on offer in Spain. The sardines when fried up fresh are very different beasts from the canned ones! The cost of 16.50E included three courses, wine and bread. We ordered a glass of white and a glass of rose, and were somewhat surprised to be presented with carafes of perhaps 400mls each of white and rose when the waitress returned!
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| Sardines at Platja de la Fosca |
Palamos is one of our favourite places, and we checked into a hotel we have been in before. 70E includes breakfast for two and also cava on tap - just fill a glass when you like. The prices here are a real contrast to the cost of accommodation and eating in NZ, or even France. We went out for a wander later in the evening, looking for a little tapas for a small meal. The tapas bars were only opening up around 7pm. We sought out a waterfront bar we have been to before. The colourful bean bags have been replaced by rather more upmarket tables and chairs, but it was still a perfect place to stop off for a wee while. We ended up having a plate of sonsos there. Sonsos are like slightly fatter whitebait, dusted with flour then cooked very lightly in oil and served hot. They are delicious, and are a real treat and hard to find. To find them at this time of year means they are probably out of season, so they likely had been frozen. They tasted delicious all the same.
From there we moved onto a tapas bar we knew. It's a small local affair, with a limited and changing number of hot and cold pintxos dishes on offer. Judging by the huge array of photographs and other paraphernalia hanging on the walls, we think its been in the same family for decades. Each little dish comes with a toothpick or slightly larger stick in it. 'Toothpick' dishes are 2E, and larger stick dishes are 2.50E. The small bell peppers stuffed with mashed cod and potato were the best. We didn't need much, so just sampled a few dishes. It was a wonderfully simple way of trying out some morsels of food and having a very light meal.
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| Can Moni, Palamos |
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| Pequillos |
We drifted towards the car mid-morning and slowly drove along the route southwards. We have driven along the road on the immediate waterfront of the Costa Brava before, but never a block or two back. It was quite a surprise to find it lined for miles with shops, restaurants, cafes, malls and the like. Much of it is based around holiday wear and products, obviously to service the holidaymakers who arrive here in vast numbers each year. There are many very large camping grounds nearby. The place certainly had a holiday buzz to it, even though summer is on the wane.
We popped into Decathlon to buy a new pair of swimming goggles, then it was off to St Feliu de Guixols, where we will stay for the next two days. It's an old town, full of history and character and also boasts a well-known art gallery which attracts signature exhibitions each year, though not this year as it is being renovated. St Feliu is also a great base for walking along the coast.
It was 2pm by the time we arrived, parked up, and found Can Segura restaurant which we had greatly enjoyed in the past. It was yet another wonderful meal. Again I chose sardines (whole, floured and fried) and hake dishes, while John had a goat cheese salad and lamb chops. The house aioli was spectacular. Like yesterday, our glass of wine as part of the 'menu of the day' was a 500ml bottle each.
The food here in Spain has definitely won us over in its quality, range of options (including lots of fish and seafood), and good value. Locals were still arriving to start their lunch at 3pm or even later. After a slow walk back to the car, we collected our bags, walked the 100m to our budget hotel, checked in, had a quiet few hours, then it was back out on the streets to find one or two morsels of tapas. Sure enough, a small plate of squid and another of anchovies between us and we felt we had done ourselves proud. The dishes are not large but very tasty, and very healthy. We set out on this little trip to re-sample the delights of the seafood on offer in Spain, and it's come up trumps in every way. When we get back to Ceret I will try not to write another word about food in the blog until we leave for NZ!
We both slept well, and were up and about for breakfast at 8:30am. It set us up well for the solid day's walking ahead of us. We were off soon after 9am and on the Cami de Ronda coastal track, which follows the coastline north of St Feliu de Guixols. A number of years ago we walked it all the way to Port d'Aro, and we planned to do the same today. The first section is very up and down as the path winds its way in and around some gorgeous little inlets and over a few headlands. The turquoise water looked very inviting, and indeed there were plenty of people who had peeled off the track and found their way down onto the rocks or onto a tiny beach. It was a hot day, and, being Sunday, there were large numbers of people enjoying the water, boating, kayaking or sunning themselves. We also passed a group of climbers who were grappling their way along a via ferrata on a cliff-face.
It took nearly 2 hours to reach Port d'Aro. Soon after, we turned to retrace our steps, and after crossing a sandy beach, we stopped off at a little beachfront cafe for a coffee. Upon leaving, it was so nice to be charged just the usual amount for a coffee, not an exorbitant tourist price designed to fleece all the beachgoers. Needless to say, we were fairly weary when we descended the last flight of steps and arrived back in St Feliu. It was nearly 2pm. We both desperately wanted to jump into the sea, so made a quick stop at our accommodation to pick up some towels and John's togs. One of us hadn't thought to throw her swimsuit in, not thinking that the beach and/or sea would be warm enough for indulging in. I improvised as much as was necessary and we soon found ourselves lying blissfully on the beach, and then jumping into the water. The sea was much warmer than we'd anticipated, so we had a pretty good play, complete with the new swim goggles we'd cunningly picked up at Decathlon yesterday.
Lunch had consisted of a few nut bars, so after we'd returned to the unit, had showers and made ourselves respectable, it was time to head to yesterday's tapas place and sit down with a glass of cava. Alas, there were no little fried anchovies on the menu tonight so we opted for sepia (cuttlefish), then a platter of charcuterie and a few Catalan meatballs. It went down very well. It was very nice to be back to the hotel room nice and early at 7pm, to enjoy a bit of a rest. We've walked 24km today. I don't think we will be walking too far tomorrow!
Rather than repeat the slightly average breakfast we'd had yesterday, we chose to go out for a coffee and a pastry in Sant Feliu. Back to the hotel to pack up and check out, then to the car to drive back north. Ten minutes later we were parked at S'Agaro Beach where we sunbathed and swam in the very pleasantly warm sea. The beach was still full of people, despite it now being October. We used the goggles in turn and did a swim out to a distant buoy. The Ceret pool is now closed for the season, so it was a good opportunity to stretch out in the water for a bit.
Heading back north at 1pm, we stopped at Verges to take a final enjoyable Costa Brava lunch of fried sole and Catalan sausage.
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| Sole, and sausage and beans |
Finally into the great big red mall of Gran Jonquera for some groceries before crossing the border again into France. As when we had left France, there were a few police on the border stopping random cars, thankfully not us, though we had nothing to be concerned about.
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| Sonsos (similar to whitebait) |
