26 May Perpignan, Collioure, Banyuls, etc.

  Another French breakfast (chocolate croissant no less!) and we were off for the day.  Our first stop was Collioure, which is another lovely village on the sea. The wind is blowing and the water is rough but very beautiful with all the white caps.  The village is famous for anchovies, culinary excellence, wine, and olive oil.  In addition, one can walk and see many things such as a chapel, fort, windmill, and much more.  They still use areas of the fort by the water to train the French military, the Navy I believe, as a lot of the young men were wearing wet suits and some others had camouflage clothing.  We had a nice walk around the town and around 12:30 we headed for Banyuls just a short distance away.    

   In Banyuls we had a lovely picnic and after that we walked down to the sea and across the entire beach and then back through the town.  We tried to find the kitchen type store where we bought things before but we could not.  Most stores there  close between 2 and 4 pm and open again after that.  This is the Spanish influence of the area.  We walked back to Annie and Xuxu's home and then prepared to leave.  It was perfect but we did miss Annie and Xuxu being there. 

   Now René took us on an adventure up to the top of the mountain on  narrow country roads.  Both Odette and I were a little worried a few times but we had amazing views of the sea, villages, and vineyards.  Of course René is an excellent driver. amazing. We were very close to one of the signaling stations at the top of the mountain but one had to walk the rest of the way and the wind was blowing very hard so we did not attempt this. 

   When we are down from the mountains we stop in yet another village I cannot recall the name of and we get oysters and langistino for dinner, we are still full from lunch but again, we eat.  I must say these were the most delicious oysters I have ever eaten!  Then we walked around the area of home and now it is time for sleep.  I could write much more but I am tired and not thinking too clearly.  We had a wonderful day.