Weekend at Frenchie's

It's great to actually be able to say 'I think I will go to France for the weekend,' and then do it. That's exactly what I did this weekend.

I've been working all July, morning and evenings, so a quick weekend getaway has been much needed. We thought to head north a bit, through Ripoll and Camprodon, and cross the Catalan-French border over the Col d'Ares. Most people head for the water when the weather is baking, but I love the mountains.

The Col d'Ares.

The Col d'Ares is the top of the mountain pass between France and Catalonia. It is important because it was used extensively during both the Spanish Civil War and WWII. Catalan who were being persecuted by Frano's goons made the 8km crossing to safety, and POWs also made the trek out of Nazi occupied France to (relatively) neutral Spain. Today, we did it in a car.

Party lights in Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste.

The cathderal of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste.

We spent an evening in Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, a lovely little French town nestled in the mountains, just on the other side of the pass. The town was part of Catalonia until separated in the 17th Century by the Treaty of the Pyrenees, but it still holds onto its Catalan past - Catalan flags are abundant, even the independent one, and some of the older people still speak Catalan. The town itself only has 1,000 inhabitants, but it has city walls, old cathedral and plenty of bars, restaurants and life. While we were there, there was a 'festival of bands' there, and marching bands came parading through the town, making plenty of noise, but putting smiles on everyone's faces. Our hotel was a little way up the road, at a tiny place called La Preste, where only a handful of people live, but it is popular for its natural thermal baths and has expensive hotels to prove it.

Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste.

The Sardana

Sardana of 2

We popped into a town called Ceret, only about 30kms from Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, still in France, and were greeted by the main square full of people dancing the Sardana! The Sardana is the national dance of Catalunya - and I had thought a fading tradition, but it looks to be doing fine! Everyone got involved, young and old, and large groups danced around the square, and there was even a Sardana circle of two.

Heading home, as we only had 2 days away, we decided to stop in one of my all time favourite Catalan towns - Camprodon. The last time I went there was in October 2007, and it was Castanya time. Castanyas are Horse Chestnuts, and here it is traditional to cook them and eat them with sweet potatoes in October. In fact, they celebrate it here, rather than the American holiday Halloween. It was cold then, being mid-autumn in the mountains, but today was baking hot - just the way I like it! Sun, cold beer, and a river running through a Medieval town with a bridge - I am a sucker for Medieval towns and bridges, and when you put them together! I'm glad I could stay for a bit here before leaving - I enjoy revisiting places that I loved the first time, and finding that I still love them.

Camprodon from the bridge.

A lovely weekend I must say, but tomorrow it is back to reality... but I'm not going to think about that today, I will leave it for 5 minutes before work starts on Monday morning!

(By the way - I mean 'Frenchie' in the nicest possible way - I love the French!)