Two nights in L'Escala

It has become usual for our first trip of the year to be to L'Escala, a seaside town in Spain, about 2 hours drive away.

We set off on Monday morning in grey skies. As we reached the Spanish border, cracks appeared in the cloud and we were soon seeing blue skies. The largest mountain on the horizon, the Canigou, was shrouded in mist.

The border between France and Spain has been open for some years now and, while the border point still exists, usually there is no sign of anyone being around. On this occasion, the car park was full of cars and we feared that it wouldn't be long before the border is manned again.

We arrived at the hotel just after midday, so in time for lunch in the town after leaving our bags and taking the usual photos. There is just a path between the hotel and the beach, so at night, we leave the window open and sleep to the sound of the waves.

Outside our hotel

Some interesting light effects that day

When we reached our usual bar, everything had changed. The road between the bar and the sea had been dug up, the carpark had disappeared and the bar was a restaurant. Fortunately, they still did tapas, so we were able to have our favourite dishes: patatas bravas, tortilla, and anchovies on tomato bread with a couple of beers. Chatting to our neighbours, we learnt that the area would now be pedestrian, leaving more room for sitting outside the cafes. The work was due to be completed by February, but a Roman bridge had been uncovered as well as some bones, so work stopped while the archeologists came in from Madrid: so just the same routine as in the UK.

As usual, we had forgotten that Monday is the day when everyone closes, so our visit to the wine shop was fruitless (not to mention wineless), but it did cause us to work out some Catalan words, which we will, no doubt, forget by this time next year. The trip into the village was not a complete disaster, we managed to pick up some anchovies.That evening, we ate in the hotel restaurant which was up to its usual high standard.

The next day, the skies were clear and we had a great view of the Pyrenees and the mountain that we can also see from our village, the Canigou, (on the right of the top photo below). As we walked towards the town, we spotted these paragliders, enjoying the windless weather and, no doubt the views.

In the town we found the wine shop open, so filled our bags ready for the trip home on Wednesday, before having an enjoyable lunch in one of the small restaurants in the town. Dinner was tapas in a new wine bar close to the road works that we had seen the day before.

On Wednesday, we headed for home, but as usual, we made a stop at one of the many lovely old, unspoilt and well preserved villages in the area; this time it was Peralada, a small village not far from Figueres. We know the wine from Peralada from the wine shop in L'Escala.

As with the other small villages that we have seen in this area, it is very well preserved and cared for. There were few people around, but we did hear an English voice talking to her dog. We stopped for a chat and she told us about the village museum and castle and, most importantly, where the Peralada wine cave was.

The Perlada records date back to the 10th century, when there were two walls protecting the village. Little of that structure remains after a fire in 1285 when the French invaded. A new wall was built then and some of that remains.

The cathedral, which still has traces of the 9th century temple, was not open while we were there. Parts of the 1208 and 14th century bell tower remain.

We had more luck in the museum in the centre of the village. It is remarkable that such a small town should be able to afford such a museum, with several staff, a film documenting the history available in excellent English and such a good display, including a copy of a book written in the 12th century chronicaling the life of Ramon Muntaner who was born in the village.

In the grounds of the museum, there are the remains of a 11th century Augustan monestry.

This was originally a cloister and the columns with their capitals date back to the 12th century, although the rest of the building is 16th century. There were some interesting carvings on the capitals:

So then it was time for lunch in a small restaurant in the town, it looked very interesting, but was not as good as we had hoped: the starters were better than the mains.

Finally, the way home, with the Canigou dominating the skyline. We did indeed have to stop when we crossed the border but didn't need to show our passports.

 

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