FocalPlane > Travelogues > France 2004, Part 4

France 2004 - Part 4 of 4

A Focalplane Travelogue

Go straight to: 1- Introduction | 2 - Puy de Dome/St. Nectaire | 3 - Nissan-lez-Enserune | 4 - Cote de Vermeille

4. Cote de Vermeille

Although we liked Nissan-lez-Enserune and many of the attractions around the village, we were determined to seek out some really good Mediterranean beaches. A search through the Rough Guide suggested that the Cote de Vermeille is really not worth the effort. How wrong they turned out to be! We can only imagine that the Rough Guide writers have become rather jaundiced over the years as their opinions are far from inducing a travel-lust! And isn't that what they are in business to do?

Even though we never visited Perpignan, this city is the center of French Catalonia, an area of France with a strong Spanish influence. (Though we are sure the locals believe their unique Catalan cultuire is neither one nor the other!) The places we did visit include Collioure, Argeles and some of the inland towns and villages. All in all this is a very attractive area, or at least it is in October (perhaps the Rough Guide people visited in high season?)

Collioure probably qualifies as the most attractive town/port/resort along the Cote Vermeille. It certainly has a lot to offer the tourist and it also seems to provide a good community for those who choose to live there, be they locals or implants. Discovered as an artists' paradise it continues to thrive as a place for artists to work and sell their art. The old part of the town has steep narrow streets from an age before the motor vehicle. Fortunately there is plenty of parking in and around the city to absorb the large daily influx of visitors, even in off season October.

The harbor is the center of life in Collioure, whether it be the fishing industry (which has seen busier days, we think), the restaurants or the beaches. The latter are stony but in some ways more attractive for that. The harbor is clean and the sea warm, ideal for a swim!

Ancient castles and fortified churches provide picture postcard scenes while the backdrop to the town is formed by mountains (well, foothills really) with olive groves and vineyards. All very Mediterranean!

The Harbor, beach and old town			Narrow flower filled streets
On the beach			Traditional fishing boats

Argeles-sur-Mer and Argeles Plage are twin communities that mirror many similar situations along the coast. The older community typically lies inland, about two kilometers, while the modern beach developments crowd the coastal strip. Both have their charms. Argeles-sur-Mer has a core of old buildings and, of course, the church. Here the community appears to be year round with a mix of locals and retirees from all over Europe. Argeles Plage, on the other hand is seasonal and as such was very quiet in October. Because the beach faces east and because the sun often disappears behind clouds over the Pyrenees in the afternoon the beach may not be as popular as, say, Collioure, during the cooler months. The beach is, however, a classic strip of near white coarse grained sand, backed by pine trees surrounding the older beach properties. There is enough room for crowds and, according to the summer scenes on picture postcards, crowds is what this beach gets!

Immediately to the south of Argeles Plage is where the long sandy beaches of Languedoc-Roussilon finally meet the foothils of the Pyrenees. Here is the charming summer community of Racou Plage. We stopped to take a look in the morning and there were all of two sunbathers on the beach, protected from the cool north wind by a large windbreak (a necessary item according to the guide books as this area can be very windy). Immediately backing on the the beach are several rows of small beach houses, mostly shuttered for the winter but looking splendid in the clear morning sunshine. The setting, with mature pine trees on the hills behind and clean white sand at the doorstep under a deep blue sky was exactly what we had driven so far to find. We'll be back!

Racou Plage, October sun

Racou Plage Community

Inland from the coast the countryside is dominated by red tile roofs and vineyards with pine trees on the foothills. Many of these communities are fast being taken over by British, Dutch and other northern Europeans looking to cash in on cheaper housing, 300 sunny days a year and a carefree retirement in paradise. Well, that's what the brochures say! We spent a half day driving in the foothills and came to the conclusion that a hideaway in the Pyrenees would not be for us at all, mainly because it would be relatively remote. But the mountains offer a complete contrast from the beach, with reports of excellent hiking and biking trails as well as the opportunity to cross the border into Spain and Andorra for a slightly different cultural experience.

In fact, the region as a whole does offer something for everybody. We liked the area enough to want to return in the new year when the warm beaches and clear air will be waiting to raise our spirits! Besides, we will be needing to refill the wine cellar!

Travel Notes

Le Shuttle - under the English Channel/La Manche

There used to be only one way to go to Europe from the UK with your car and that was by ferry boat. Ferries have gotten much better over the years, but they still depend on the weather. Having experienced Force 8 Gales many years ago, we opted to avoid the surface of the ocean and go beneath it. Eurotunnel offers what is probably the fastest and most efficient method of crossing to Europe. You must arrive 30 minutes before scheduled departure while the crossing takes 35 minutes. So in a minimum of 65 minutes you have not only crossed the Channel but have also gone through passport and customs control and can immediately start the long drive south across France. You drive on to the train and stay in your vehicle during the crossing.

We paid £98 for a return trip that stipulated we could not depart before 5 p.m. going to France and must start our return from France before 10:00 a.m. These restrictions suited our plan to use B&Bs on the French side in both directions. A full, unrestricted return costs nearly £300. The one way penalty for changing our ticket was £30 (but we would still be limited by the time of day).

French Autoroutes

Many French autoroutes (a.k.a. motorways or freeways) have tolls (peage). For long distance travel there really is no other choice unless you have plenty of time to spare, so factor in the toll costs. A few autoroutes, such a A75 south of Clermont Ferrand, do not charge. The site helps to calculate toll charges.

Bed & Breakfast (Chambre d'Hote)

Many French B&Bs are inexpensive and offer good simple accommodation. It pays to use a reputable guide when selecting B&Bs as these screen out undesirable places. We used Alastair Sawday's Guide. A good B&B need not cost more than 50 Euros a night.

Self Catering

This is a very popular form of accommodation in France, particularly in the resort areas. Standards do, of course, vary enormously so it pays to research places using the internet and publications. Go for the online guides that publish the most information. For example, our apartment in Nissan was advertised on two sites. Alastair Sawday had minimal information whereas Vacation Villas carried complete information. We booked using the latter. However, the owners now have their own site here.

Beaches

A good beach is very important to us. After years of Texas sand bars, we rather like beaches that are backed by rocks and cliffs. We also love clean, clear water. So some of the beaches we visited passed the test, others did not. We particularly liked those around Argeles-sur-Mer (though they do get very crowded in summer) but also liked the rocky coves at Collioure and Cap d'Agde. Perhaps because they reminded us of Texas, the beaches around Gruissan were somewhat disappointing.

Guides and Maps

We found our Rough Guide of France to be a disappointing publication. If we had believed all we read we probably wouldn't have discovered half the places we really liked. Perhaps the writers have become jaded with all the development?

By contrast, the Michelin Green Guides are reliable sources of information but it is frustrating that they list places alphabetically rather than geographically. That you have to know what you are looking for rather defeats the purpose of the guide.

Michelin maps are also very good, but for more detailed mapping, we recommend the Series Bleu 1:25,000 scale maps. These even show all the tourist attractions (such as camp sites) and do a much better job at this than the UK equivalent scale series.

We also used our Route 66 mapping software (at times in conunction with our GPS unit).

What about public transport?

Budget airlines such as Ryanair and Flybe offer flights from the UK to regional airports in Languedoc-Roussilon.

French Railways (SNCF) have excellent long distance services and can be very cost competitive (even with the airlines).

We saw very few buses but they do exist.