After having a look at this, we set off exploring. There were two things on my to do list: the cathedral and the palace of the kings of Mallorca. We figured that we would head to the palace of the kings of Mallorca first and then take a semi-circular route back to the train station which would take us past the cathedral and some other interesting buildings. We set off and I spotted a sign post for something else that took my fancy: Le Couvent de Minimes. I had seen photos of a really nice courtyard there before we left and fancied having a look. So we set off. We found out that Perpignan is quite hilly in the process. I also so my first ever swallows on the way.
Le Couvent de Minimes is a monastery that was founded in 1575 and is located in the old Jewish quarter. This is now owned by the city of Perpignan and is used as an exhibition space. The cloisters that surround the courtyard and the choir of the church have been restored. On the way were treated to some fabulous views. Strange enough, neither of us has any photos of this. When we reached the monastery, we went inside. I noticed one problem straightaway. The cloisters with the courtyard have been blocked off by wooden doors all the way round. Fortunately there were windows in those doors so we could at least peek through and take some photos through the glass. If there is access to the church, we did not find it either. Still, I was glad that we made the effort. On the walls of the monastery was some display about the history with photos, but unfortunately all the information was in French only.
From there we were planning to head to palace of the kings of Mallorca. On the way, we got another good impression just how quirky this place is. The geography is interesting to say the very least. I don’t think there is a straight road in the place and Perpignan is essentially a giant maze. Still, we saw plenty of interesting buildings and some really unusual streets. Graham nearly ended up with a shower. We were walking along minding our own business when suddenly decided to tip out a bucket of water from a second or third floor window. The water only just missed Graham. Once we continued our walk, every now and again, we saw water running down the street so this seems to be a common practice in Perpignan.
At one stage we ended up in the town centre. We had not found either the palace of the kings of Mallorca or the cathedral for that matter. We were not entirely sure where we were and as per usual, the maps that were dotted around were of limited help. We did eventually find our way to Le Castillet and found a shady spot on a low wall near there to cool off and rest for a bit. It was boiling hot that day. After a while, I set off to see if I could find the cathedral. I had seen a rare signpost when we were heading back towards Le Castillet and it turned out it was pretty much round the corner. Now that I knew where the cathedral was in respect to Le Castillet, I also could make sense of one of the maps with the historical sites. I jotted down some directions to palace of the kings of Mallorca on the notepad app on my phone and then I went back to collect Graham.
We headed off towards the cathedral. On the way we came past La Loge de Mer, which is a beautiful building, which was originally built in the 14th century and then rebuilt in the Renaissance. It started out as the stock exchange, was then the maritime tribunal for a while and is now the town hall. However, the most fascinating fact that we learned that when it was built, La Loge de Mer was right by the waterfront. Now it is in the middle of the town centre. It is amazing how things change.
We then carried on towards the cathedral. This is very unusual for France in that it does not have the usual heights of a French cathedral, but is very wide instead. It is built in the Catalan style down to the wrought iron bell tower. This was another very dark church, but it is very pretty. We sat down for a while to enjoy our surroundings and then took some photos before moving on.
There was another slight spanner thrown in the works. The exit from the cathedral is separate from the entrance and we ended up somewhere different from where I had anticipated. So we had the task to find the road that was the first landmark on my directions. I gave in at that stage and switched on my mobile data so that I could use Google Maps. This proved a good idea up to a point. Anyway, the new route took us past a beautiful courtyard surrounded by cloisters around the back of the cathedral. I had no idea at the time what we were looking at, but really liked it. It was only while writing this trip report and trying to find out more about one of the buildings we saw, I stumbled across some familiar photos. It turns out that what I had taken so many photos of was Campo Santo. Campo Santo is a cloister cemetery that was built in the early 14th century and is the largest and oldest one in France. It was in use until the beginning of the French revolution. I also managed to take photos of the Funeraria, which was the funeral chapel for Campo Santo. I have since seen some photos from the inside and I do have some regrets that we did not have a closer look at this as this is stunning. Still, I am sure we will be back in this part of the world and you always need to have an incentive to return.
After going down a few interesting alleys and side streets, we ended up on one of the roads that I had marked down on my directions. In the end the route we took ended up prettier and more interesting than following the main road. We did come past some places we had seen in the morning so we had not been that far off from where we intended to be. On the way, we came across a small supermarket and I got us each some water. The directions that I had written down matched the directions that Google Maps provided and soon we were at the square that was one of the last landmarks on both sets of directions. There was only one problem. The road that was on the map and that was also shown on Google Maps did not actually exist. Graham headed up another road and soon we saw the walls of the citadel, but it would have meant to walk all the way around it. It was just too hot and there was no shade so we gave up on that idea. I could not quite believe that two maps could be wrong and decided to have another look. Graham found a seat in the shade on one of the benches in the square.
In the end I am pretty sure I found the "road" in question. The issue was that it was not a road at all, but a footpath through a park. This would have been perfect if it had not been for the fact that a little way up the path was a huge locked gate. At that point I gave up.
I went to re-join Graham and we sat on the bench in the square for a while watching the world go by. This was actually very nice. Once we started to get uncomfortable, we headed back towards the town centre. We decided that we both fancied some ice cream. We did not have to walk very far until we found a little cafe that sold crepes and ice cream. We went inside and sat down. We both had three scoops of ice cream. Graham went with Vanilla Macadamia, Rum Raisin and Lemon and I chose Vanilla Macadamia, Chestnut and Pistachio. We both enjoyed our choices. While we were sitting in the cafe enjoying our ice cream, a group of women came by. Some of them appeared to have gotten into a disagreement about something and they stopped right in front of the cafe screaming at each other for what felt like ages. I actually wondered at one stage if this would get physical. Then suddenly they seem to settle their differences and moved on as if nothing had happened. By then we had finished our ice cream. I went to pay and then we headed out again.
There was one thing I wanted to take care off. I had forgotten to bring my lip balm and considering the heat and the fact that I still had a pretty impressive cold, my lips were very dry and sore. I had been hoping all day that I would find somewhere that would sell me some nice lip balm, but had not been successful. Shortly before we left for this trip, I had discovered L’Occitane and I really like their products. They seem to have shops everywhere in the south of France and I figured that they would sell me something suitable. It turned out that there was a shop not too far away. So we ended in that general direction. On the way we passed a beautiful square with an old-fashioned carousel. Shortly afterwards we reached the street that I had been looking for. This was a narrow street full of unusual and quirky shops. With hindsight, I should have spent some time browsing. Instead I went to L'Occitane and got some Shea Lip Butter which is working a treat. Then we decided to slowly make our way back to the station. We followed the road along and ended up at the canal again. I took some more photos of the canal with the mountains in the background and then we walked towards the station. This time round we walked on the other side of the road so that we could read the information signs on that side of the road.
When we got to the station, we still had plenty of time until our train was due. Graham wanted to use the bathroom, but it costs 50 Cent and neither of us had a 50 Cent coin. I ended up buying some Pringles in one of the shops at the station, which were EUR1.50 so that I would get 50 Cent change. Unfortunately when Graham put the 50 Cent piece in the coin slot in the door, it took the money, but the door still did not open. Still, we enjoyed the Pringles. I made use of the free Wi-Fi at the station until our train was listed and it was time to head to the correct platform. I do not remember much of the journey back as I spent most of it asleep. Fortunately Graham did manage to stay awake. Otherwise we may well have ended up back in Paris.
When we got back to Narbonne, we were ready for something to eat. Our last proper meal had been breakfast and at that stage, this was a distant memory. Graham asked if I needed to go back to the hotel. I did not really need my big camera, but I did not mind carrying it either. So I told Graham that I was OK to head straight for dinner. We ended up taking a side street just before we would have got to the hotel. Graham thought that there was a street that would take us straight to the cathedral. Like Perpignan, Narbonne is a medieval town. The layout of Narbonne is not quite as quirky, but it still has certain maze-like qualities. We walked through a number of small winding streets and then ended up on the main road leading down to the canal again. Still, it was nice to see all the old buildings and it was only a very minor detour as we could turn into the street that we had walked down the previous evening afterwards. Apart from the beautiful old buildings, what impressed me most was that there were a lot of children playing outside with bikes and footballs. It is so rare nowadays to see this.
We ended up in the same Italian restaurant again. We had seen some pizzas the previous day that looked very tempting. So we decided to try some pizza. In this part of the world, restaurants only open at 19:00 or even a bit later so we ended up taking a turn around the square while we were waiting for 19:00 to arrive. We were the first people there. We had some more of the local rose wine, but this time we only had one carafe between the two of us. This was plenty. We also had plenty of water to rehydrate. Graham ordered a Mexican Pizza with Tomato, Emmenthal Cheese, Peppers and Egg and I went with a Pizza with Tomato, Emmenthal Cheese, Onions, Bacon, Ham, Olives and Egg. They were both delicious. We were both too full for dessert as the pizzas are huge. We paid and headed back to the hotel. This time we found out that there is indeed a way to get from the cathedral to get back to the hotel, but at some stage me took a wrong turn and ended up yet again on the main through road. We got back to the hotel quite early. I spent a little while online and then we had an early night.
