November 18, 2022
We settled into Barcelona on November 11 and found it to be interesting but not terribly exciting. The hotel where the cruise places guests is in the University section of town, very, very far from the action of the old quarter and the Ramblas. This area feels very sterile and as you would expect is filled with students and their vegan restaurants and coffee shops. No real Spanish food or tapas bars to be had. After two forgettable dinners we were on the road to France.
The trip to Narbonne took about two and a half hours of easy driving and lovely scenery. The hotel that I had booked turned out to really be a self-catering place rather than a hotel. The property was made up of several very old buildings that have been completely transformed into modern apartments. Ours was overlooking a private courtyard where we could park the car. It had a living room with a marvelous crystal chandelier, a small kitchenette, a small bedroom and a good sized bathroom with two sinks. All and all it was just fine since we don’t really need any maid service for a three night stay. Narbonne is a lovely town bisected by the Canal de la Robine which runs from the coast, five miles away, to the more famous Canal du Midi at Port-la-Nouvelle. Narbonne is an old city with a huge cathedral that was built in the 1300s. There are lots, I mean lots, of restaurants. Some fancy but most just small mom and pop places - and boy do they know how to cook in Narbonne. We never had a bad bite or a bad sip and the prices were jaw-droppingly cheap, due in part to the Euro trading at one to one.
For me the best part of the town is the market, Les Halles, in 2022 designated the most beautiful market in France. It is huge and it is stellar! Such variety of fresh everything as well as an assortment of little bars and cafes that serve from 6am to 2pm. We have rented an apartment for two weeks in February and I can assure you that I was be at the market daily! We had a marvelous time in Narbonne with lots and lots of walking along the canal and the small side streets that snake around town leading to quaint little shops and Roman ruins. We are already looking forward to our return.
Perpignan by contrast is more that twice the size of Narbonne and it feels like a big city. It has lovely wide avenues lined with plane trees that were still in full leaf. There is a small man-made non-navigable canal that runs through town and on one side it is lined with lots of small restaurant, cafes and shops, all very lovely. Our hotel was just perfect in that we had a huge suite with a wraparound balcony on the top floor overlooking a park. We could and did walk to everything and we found the contrast to Narbonne interesting but not compelling enough for us to consider staying there for more than a brief three-day visit. We found two restaurants, one for lunch and one for dinner, that we went to twice each in our three days. The lunch place Le Vauban was a restaurant we had visited for lunch thirty-five years ago on a quick trip through Perpignan. We have never seen wait staff RUN with their food and drink orders; it was positively frantic and amusing. There were perhaps twenty-five tables indoors and twice that number outdoors and all were filled since the weather was just perfect. The first time we ate there we ordered two Kirs to start and they were perhaps the best Kirs we have ever had - and we have had a few. Just the perfect amount of Cassis and perfectly chilled white wine. We found that the wine in this area of France is well suited to our taste and budget. Almost everywhere a glass of the house wine was three euros and half-liter pitchers were eight. Amazing wine at amazing prices.
Sometimes little things happen that just make a trip so memorable. On the morning after our lunch at Le Vauban we were taking our morning walk and decided to stop in and have coffee at Vauban. We had a nice chat with the owner whom we had met the day before and we talked about how much running they do, which he said was about eleven kilometers a day. We went up to pay and he said, you can pay this afternoon after lunch. It was like he had known us forever and just accepted the fact that we were good credit risks. After lunch that afternoon we went up to pay at the cashier area and he remembered the coffees and as he gave us the bill said that he was comping our half liter of wine! Just like that, no reason other then he liked us and we liked him.
Our dinner favorite was near the hotel and again, a husband/wife enterprise serving some of the best mouthfuls we have ever had in France. Sometimes you love a place and go back only to be disappointed. Not here! The first night we ate lightly since we were still processing our lovely lunch. They had Cindy’s favorite meal, Foie Gras poêlé, which is quickly seared pieces of duck liver. Normally just one piece but here there were three good sized pieces served with melt in your mouth potatoes dauphinoise. Did I say we ate lightly?? I ordered a simple seared salmon which came covered in grated carrots, red cabbage and some type of radish. It was absolutely fabulous. The next night we spilt a homemade paté which was served with a small salad and pomegranate seeds. Cindy had a special dish of two pieces of fish, salmon and loup, with a fabulous creamy lemon sauce, and I had the chicken tagine which was so fragrant and delicately spiced, so simple and complex at the same time. It was a lovely way to end our six days in France.
Tomorrow we are off on the cruise for fourteen days and we’ll try to write between meals. Hasta la vista! Cindy and Wm
