Tuesday 29 September 2015

Landmark

We discovered Cerbère after failing to find a hotel in Cadaqués (mad season of August). A friend had suggested taking a look around Cerbère instead - 'I think you might like it . . .' she had said. And we did - very much.

Pictured - the Belvedere de Rayon Verte, a hotel built in the 1920s to serve the large numbers of fairly wealthy travellers voyaging from Frence to spain and vice versa (tennis courts on the roof, cinema on the first floor) when the train lines were installed, along with the extraordinary arched railway bankings that curve through the town - apparently designed and made by the 'Eiffel' company

We stayed here in a decrepit 'suite' with a view of the sea to one side of our balcony and the tracks to the other, and were serenaded by the 'singing railings' (four notes that strike up with certain wind directions) and the rumble and squeak of the trains. I believe the guest rooms have been done up in recent years, but luckily nothing done to alter the rather decaying but beautiful dining room, cinema etc.

Looking from high up on the Spanish-French border, the hotel is an extraordinary landmark; almost snaking itself along the train tracks in a long curve. If time travel were possible I would love to be transported back to the time when the building had just been opened in all its elaborate concrete-ness (one of the first concrete habitations in France).

Home to many art projects and other events, the Belvedere opens its doors to the public for the excellent annual film festival - 1st to the 3rd October. Link below.

http://www.rencontrescerbere.org

Monday 28 September 2015

where to start . . .

Hello, world, from a tiny cove on the very edge of France as it slips (tumbles, perhaps) into Spain. I'm always fascinated by border points: how they were originally delineated; whose rock/tree/lavender bush was who's, etc. Spanish parasol pine or French parasol pine? Or a bit of both?

Cerbère is classed as a village, or possibly a very small town, and was once part of The 'Banyuls' commune - a real town sized town just along the vertiginous road from Cerbère, about ten km, or perhaps six if you could walk in a straight line.

It has a post office, bread shop, two grocery stores, pharmacy etc, and several good eateries for somewhere so minuscule. I was talking to the owner of The 'Dorade' restaurant recently about how I felt comfortable in Cerbère. He described it at 'cocooneuse', meaning protected and sheltered (thank you spell check for suggesting I meant cocaine use). And it's true, even when the 'Tramontane' wind is blowing at 130 km an hour it feels oddly . . . cosy. I'm sure folk who have their goat shacks blown away, boats sunk, or worse might not agree; but in the middle of January, when the sky in leaden, and everything except the bread shop is closed, it still feels comfortable . . . to me anyway.