A fairly slow start to today but the cherry activities of yesterday were all to be repeated in town again today. We opted to have a break from the bands and to head out of town for a day-trip. First of all Tim and Nick helped us carry down an immense load of cardboard and polystyrene packaging we had accumulated. We can only get rid of it at the dechetterie just out of Céret.
Tim had kindly offered us use of the car to cart it all away so that was a great plan. Unfortunately the car was jammed into the carpark, with a small horsetruck jamming its rear. This was a Catalan family giving donkey rides to children as part of the weekend festivities. By the time we had tracked down the owner of the truck, he had moved it, and we had crammed the car to the gunwales with cardboard and polystyrene, we were cutting it pretty fine to get to the dechetterie by noon. We roared out of town, going in the opposite direction to the millions driving into town in hope of finding a carpark, and arrived at the dump with 12mins to spare. Gutting – it was closed and deserted.
It didn’t even look as though it had been open all morning. We had previously checked the website to see that it should be, and even the signboard on the gates at the entrance said it should be. So, what do we do? We had a huge load to get rid of, the rest of the family packing a picnic lunch to head up the valley as soon as we returned, and no other opportunity to use the car to dump the stuff. Suzy and Tim were leaving early the next morning. There was nothing for it but to ignore all the boldly written signs the said the leaving of rubbish at the dechetterie gates was strictly prohibited. We unloaded the whole lot as quickly as we could, at the same time breaking our fingernails trying to rip off all the delivery tickets and dockets that had our names and addresses on them (so we couldn’t be traced). We figure it was the problem of the dechetterie, not ours, as they were supposed to be open. Fingers crossed there was no-one spying on us who took a note of the number plate. We reckon we are probably pretty safe anyway because S & T drove the car to Barcelona yesterday and returned it to the car-hire place so it would be a real pain trying to pursue any penalty payment. Here’s hoping anyway.
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| Vauban fortress above Prats de Mollo |
Back into town and collected the rest of the family and a lovely drive up the Tech Valley to a gorgeous village called Prats de Mollo. It has a small walled town, complete with large church inside and a large Vauban fortress up above it. You can climb from the village up to the castle through an underground passage which was constructed to allow soldiers to have cover while going between the two points.
We had had our picnic lunch beside the river, just below the village, but got cut short by a brief burst of heavy raindrops. We climbed up and had a great view of the valley. It had been threatening to rain more but thankfully it held off, despite thunder rolling around the hills. We were only a couple of kilometres from the Spanish border, and this valley was extremely important to the French Resistance in WWII for getting people out of France and into Spain.
After our walk we repaired to a nice little café but decided the rain was looking really threatening again and we had better head to the car. Safely home by 5pm to find it rather wet in Céret and the festivities had come to a slightly damp end an hour before time. It cleared up again soon after, and music started emanating from the various cafes/bars. The town has been full of bonhomie all weekend and it’s been lots of fun.
This was our last night all together so we decided to do something slightly special. Our options were very limited however because the supermarkets were closed, our kitchen still not functioning, and restaurants probably booked out. We excelled however. Gorgeous titbits and nibbles for aperitif (including pate maison with cherries), takeaway pizzas for the main course, and cherry pie and ice-cream for dessert. A fine evening all round.
