Dans le marché

Imagine my delight to find the streets of Collioure filled with market stalls when we went out this morning! Nearest the hotel was a series of stalls selling rails of beach coverups and summer dresses for 10 euros a piece. Some were cotton and linen at least and I bought a blue and white striped button through shirt dress to wear over my swimsuit. 

This is a picture of the naff chicken ceramics which blazed with none too subtle colour. 

We then walked, via a beautiful post card shop to a beach , Plage de L’Ouille, that you can only get to on foot.  And it was quite a difficult walk, in the heat and Birkenstocks finishing with a scramble down the cliff. Never been so glad to see 25cl of French beer.   We had a lovely lunch of grilled turbot and salads at the little restaurant there before swimming and sunbathing and dreading the walk back, which in the way of things turned out to be not so bad.  We were told that Matisse painted his famous painting of his wife in a bright kimono there but as there were barely any houses I’m not sure where. 

For dinner we went to a slow food restaurant in a little alley , which was beautiful and simple while the food was complex. The young French American made fantastic cocktails that were rich with complicated semi sweet flavours and strong, made with unusual herby infused vermouths.   I ate ajo blanco, a chilled almond soup full of fruit and flowers  And rather to my surprise a delicious pulled-pork burger.   It was still early and we sat out in the harbour just soaking in the light before going back to La Cuisine Comptoir to pick up food to take on the train tomorrow and for V to have some cold rice pudding.