Perpignan

P. Breathnach

The small joys of life! Herself and I have been thinking of a short break. Being cheapskates, we often start our researches by looking for cheap flights and then asking ourselves if we want to go to where the cheap flights go. Yesterday she explored the possibilities for dates we have available, and the two cheapest destinations were Barcelona and Perpignan. She threw the project over to me to work out accommodation and other things, make a choice, and book our trip.

Being inefficient, I didn't get things done until this morning. And I found the airfares had changed, because Aer Lingus have a promotion on today, and I saved €40 through being slow.

So we are off to Perpignan in a couple of weeks' time. The city's own tourism website suggests to me that we will find a pleasant smallish French city. We tend to like smallish French cities (or, indeed, large French cities, French villages, French countryside, French coastline, almost anything in France). But if anybody here can give us any recommendations for our trip, I would be grateful. We are beyond the age for night-clubbing or partying: think sedate.

mikedragon32

You may well be there for the Heineken Cup Semi (although it's in Milton Keynes). USAP are playing Northampton, so there should be a great atmosphere there if you can get to a bar to watch it.

Not very sedate!

P. Breathnach

mikedragon32 wrote: »

You may well be there for the Heineken Cup Semi (although it's in Milton Keynes). USAP are playing Northampton, so there should be a great atmosphere there if you can get to a bar to watch it.

Not very sedate!

We fly out on 3 May, so we'll witness a wake or a party. I suppose it will be good manners to watch the game before we go, so that we can make the right noises when we are there.

mikedragon32

Ah... I suspect it will be "yay". Enjoy it.

P. Breathnach

mikedragon32 wrote: »

Ah... I suspect it will be "yay". Enjoy it.

Thanks, mike, that's the intention.

I'm doing a little mental preparation, and can't think of the French for "yay". Perpignan is in the Pays d'Oc, which is new territory for us. I'll try "Oc".

FunkyDa2

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2011/0416/1224294772261.html

joolsveer

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Thanks, mike, that's the intention.

I'm doing a little mental preparation, and can't think of the French for "yay". Perpignan is in the Pays d'Oc, which is new territory for us. I'll try "Oc".

I think Oc is a separate language. Catalan and French are spoken in the city. I really enjoyed the city when I was last there a couple of years ago. In fact I wouldn't mind living there if the price was right. There are beaches and skiing within easy reach and they are building a TGV line to Barcelona.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occitan_language

P. Breathnach

joolsveer wrote: »

I think Oc is a separate language....

I was jesting. But, as with any joke, a foundation in fact is good: "oc" means "yes" in Occitan.

Degringola

Don't know if your trip has already happened, OP, but the IT link above is comprehensive.

If you have a day or two over after seeing Perpignan and it's not that big a place anyway, if you're into walking/hiking you could get a train up to somewhere like Font Romeu, or if you want to see the sea get a train or drive to Collioure (about 40 minutes by car - parking should not be too much of a hassle at this time of year.) You can check the train times online, but iirc the last train back to Perpignan from Collioure leaves quite early. Have lunch down at the town beach and soak up the atmosphere and scenery. You could go go for a walk up to the windmill and on the way back down sample the wine.
http://www.pyrenees.fr/uk/il4-todotosee_i436-the-dominican-monastery.aspx

P. Breathnach

Thanks, Degringola. We leave next Tuesday, so you are still timely.

Herself was advised by a friend that Collioure was worth a vist. With two recommendations, it's now high on our list.

A first look at rail timetables tells me we can get there at 10.46, and leave at 18.40 or 21.40. That looks workable.

I prefer strolling to serious walking, and wine-tasting is always good for us. We like many wines from the south-west of France.

Degringola

Glad I caught you on time!

From the town beach it is the perfect stroll along the seafront to the next little beach and just beyond that on the other side of the road is the Dominican winery. (Personally I prefer the reds, don't really like the whites. My favourite is Colline de Matisse.)

Notre Dame des Anges (jpeg) is also worth a look, to your left on the beach, and for the winery head to your right and around the seawalk.
http://histoireduroussillon.free.fr/Galeries/Batiments/EgliseNotreDameDesAnges/HD/001EgliseNotreDameDesAnges_HD.jpg

Hope you both have a lovely time.

P. Breathnach

Some feedback:
- Perpignan is on the scale of Cork, or a little bigger. While it is represented as the northern Catalan capital, it felt very French to us (despite the existence of bi-lingual signs, and much flying of Catalan flags). It's an old city with a complicated history that we didn't get our heads around, but there is a lot of old stuff there to be seen, including the palace of the kings of Majorca (I said the history was complicated). We did a lot of walking around and looking. Not a huge amount of high-impact stuff, but a lot of interesting bits and pieces.
- We got lost more often, and more thoroughly, than we did in Venice. The vieux quartier is a maze, with many streets too narrow for cars.
- It's a lively enough place, and it's not mainly a tourist vibe; it felt more like we were being allowed into their party. People seemed generally amiable.
- Lots of people of north African origin, mainly Algerian and Tunisian (more of the complicated history, but a relatively recent chapter). We found ourselves rambling through what might be called the Arab quarter, and it looked as if many of them live in poor conditions, possibly at the level that we largely got rid of in Dublin in the 1970s.
- I wrecked my feet, as I usually do on city visits, and we spent a lot of time sitting outside café/bars watching the world go by: very enjoyable because of the liveliness that I already mentioned.
- We ate very well (mostly fish, which is our taste). A good dinner with wine can be managed for €80. Cheaper is possible, but we didn't test that end of the market.
- A day-trip to Collioure is highly recommended. Beautiful seaside village, très touristique, mainly French tourists.

FunkyDa2

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Some feedback:
- Perpignan is on the scale of Cork, or a little bigger. While it is represented as the northern Catalan capital, it felt very French to us (despite the existence of bi-lingual signs, and much flying of Catalan flags). It's an old city with a complicated history that we didn't get our heads around, but there is a lot of old stuff there to be seen, including the palace of the kings of Majorca (I said the history was complicated). We did a lot of walking around and looking. Not a huge amount of high-impact stuff, but a lot of interesting bits and pieces.
- We got lost more often, and more thoroughly, than we did in Venice. The vieux quartier is a maze, with many streets too narrow for cars.
- It's a lively enough place, and it's not mainly a tourist vibe; it felt more like we were being allowed into their party. People seemed generally amiable.
- Lots of people of north African origin, mainly Algerian and Tunisian (more of the complicated history, but a relatively recent chapter). We found ourselves rambling through what might be called the Arab quarter, and it looked as if many of them live in poor conditions, possibly at the level that we largely got rid of in Dublin in the 1970s.
- I wrecked my feet, as I usually do on city visits, and we spent a lot of time sitting outside café/bars watching the world go by: very enjoyable because of the liveliness that I already mentioned.
- We ate very well (mostly fish, which is our taste). A good dinner with wine can be managed for €80. Cheaper is possible, but we didn't test that end of the market.
- A day-trip to Collioure is highly recommended. Beautiful seaside village, très touristique, mainly French tourists.

Great feedback!