Argeles-sur-Mer
1-2 March 2007
From St.-Cyprien we made a huge jump the next day to Argelès-sur-Mer, – all of 10 kilometres - who said it was easy to keep moving? This is a town we visited in the height of summer about 18 years ago, when our daughters and nieces were still in their teens – yes we do remember those years. En route to Spain from Belgium by car, we found a beautiful small hotel on the beach, met a young waitress who wanted to emigrate to Canada, and enjoyed strolls along the beach and through the lively pedestrian shopping areas. A discotheque provided night time entertainment, both inside and out.
Needless to say this was a much quieter place in early March. The greatest number of visitors were “les campingcaristes” like us, concentrated in about 70 motor homes in a parking area opened for the winter to them. Like Bormes-les-Mimosas, the beachfront location, the price (free), and the availability of a washroom for potable water and emptying holding tanks made it ideal.
Argelès has a large number of campsites and is nicknamed the European camping capital. But in early March they are all closed. The five that the Tourist Bureau indicated were open only had “mobile homes”, which in France means mini homes that are mobile only in the sense that they can be loaded on large flatbed trucks and moved. Having spent two hours in our search we were happy to find this “parking” for motor homes.
The port here is unique in its design with 8 and 10 storey apartment buildings flanking much of its perimeter set back behind a very broad promenade that winds its way around three sides of the port. Restaurants and shops on the first floors create a lively ambience with the Pyrenees touching the Mediterranean as a backdrop.
Argelès is the site of France’s southernmost sandy beaches – from here to the Spanish border they are rocky coves - and of France’s southernmost vineyard.
From St.-Cyprien we made a huge jump the next day to Argelès-sur-Mer, – all of 10 kilometres - who said it was easy to keep moving? This is a town we visited in the height of summer about 18 years ago, when our daughters and nieces were still in their teens – yes we do remember those years. En route to Spain from Belgium by car, we found a beautiful small hotel on the beach, met a young waitress who wanted to emigrate to Canada, and enjoyed strolls along the beach and through the lively pedestrian shopping areas. A discotheque provided night time entertainment, both inside and out.
Needless to say this was a much quieter place in early March. The greatest number of visitors were “les campingcaristes” like us, concentrated in about 70 motor homes in a parking area opened for the winter to them. Like Bormes-les-Mimosas, the beachfront location, the price (free), and the availability of a washroom for potable water and emptying holding tanks made it ideal.Argelès has a large number of campsites and is nicknamed the European camping capital. But in early March they are all closed. The five that the Tourist Bureau indicated were open only had “mobile homes”, which in France means mini homes that are mobile only in the sense that they can be loaded on large flatbed trucks and moved. Having spent two hours in our search we were happy to find this “parking” for motor homes.
The port here is unique in its design with 8 and 10 storey apartment buildings flanking much of its perimeter set back behind a very broad promenade that winds its way around three sides of the port. Restaurants and shops on the first floors create a lively ambience with the Pyrenees touching the Mediterranean as a backdrop.
Le Château de Valmy, a 1986 addition to the region, looks more like a Walt Disney creation than something specific to the Catalan culture.
Roger’s reaction to a surfeit of chocolate prevented further exploration of this region and its 1000 metre elevation historic fortresses and castles, leaving Marie-Claire the joy of the coastal trail to Collioure.
Roger’s reaction to a surfeit of chocolate prevented further exploration of this region and its 1000 metre elevation historic fortresses and castles, leaving Marie-Claire the joy of the coastal trail to Collioure.
Argelès is the site of France’s southernmost sandy beaches – from here to the Spanish border they are rocky coves - and of France’s southernmost vineyard. posted by Retired and on the Move | 7:29 AM
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