The tour of Southern France Continues ~ Collioure

After our tour, we headed into the next town, and sort of towards our next B&B adventure. The town was Collioure. There was a beautiful boardwalk and the town really captured our attention, but it was late in the day, and we really needed to find the next B&B. The woman was a little cryptic about the directions, and I was a little nervous, because I had chosen this one. I have to say B&B is kind of a stretch. It was formerly a monastery, now owned by a private group who rented out the place when they weren’t using it for their events. No one in Collioure seemed to know where it was, and now that it was dark, it was a little trickier because the GPS couldn’t find it either. We kept heading back into the mountains and finally found it.


It was too dark to see much when we did get there, and we were not sure we could find it again. So we unloaded and went to the room that was formerly a monk’s quarters. It was pretty sparse, and would not appeal to most folks, but unlike some previous trips, this one did have a private bathroom with a real toilet. It was a little musty though. But we went back into town, found a great tagine and some internet access, and then headed back to the monastery for a good night’s sleep. Mission accomplished.

When we awoke the next morning, we headed to the camp club house for breakfast. We really were high on the mountain and looked out over a beautiful valley where we could see all the way down to the sea where the tiny little town was awakening.


After breakfast (yogurt, coffee or tea or hot chocolate, toast, and some fruit – same old thing) we asked about the history of the place. We didn’t get much of an explanation, but were told we were welcome to explore. We wound our way through the narrow passageway created by the two foot stone wall between the embankment and the front doors of the first floor of rooms. The stone walkway was beautifully woven with local flat stones and was worn where hundreds of years of feet and water had been. Through the other side of the passage, we found a wide open courtyard, another three story building, and as we walked around we found a rather unique chapel built into the building where we stayed. This chapel was obviously the original chapel for the monks, but now the décor was a bit more folk-art-ish than were used to seeing in France. Maybe in rural Louisiana, but not France. I can't find the photos that we took of that church, I guess you will just have to visit it yourself someday.


There were also well worn trails that led away from the stone encrusted open area that was likely now being used for picnics in the warmer seasons. The caretaker said the trails would lead us on a short (1.5 hour) hike or there was a 3-4 hour hike that we could find, too. We chose to spend some time in the chapel and then thought about going out for the day. After we left the chapel, someone else entered and we could hear a beautiful á capello singing emanating from there. The whole experience was very serene.

So, if you want to know more about this place, we will have to talk about it over a cup of tea. I will write more soon about the rest of our trip through southern France, in the meantime - check those airfares and get over here.