Perpignan 1

We caught an early train and arrived in Perpignan around 0930. This was as close I would get to the Spanish border from the French side. The Catalan influence is still palpable in this city because prior to 1642 it was governed by Aragon. During the Thirty Years' War it was captured by the French and ceded to them in 1659. The picture is of the Castillet, a central landmark.

I didn't have a map of the city in my guide so we walked to the centre of the city looking for the tourist office. There we got a city map. Then we looked for a hotel and settled for one near the Castillet and the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall). This pleasant canal runs through the centre of the city.

B went to look at the cathedral and I had a cool drink at a Quick restaurant (a French fast food chain) while writing yesterday's entry in the diary.

This is a façade of the city hall.

The city has a Dalí connection. In 1963 he famously declared that its railway station was the centre of the universe because he always got his best ideas sitting in the waiting room. The city has not failed to capitalise on this tenuous connection as you can see from these street decorations (egg and limp watch). Perpignan was also where during the Franco years Catalans would come to see banned films like Last Tango in Paris.

After a lunch at a sandwich joint, where I tried a steak haché (page in French) which is nothing more pretentious than a hamburger patty, we walked to the Palace of the Kings of Majorca. It dates back to the 13th century. I guess King of Majorca would have been a title like Prince of Wales, and later Majorca narrowed its meaning to just the island. The palace is maintained by the city and still used for cultural events.

I got the impression, from looking at posters outside the Palais de Congrès, that Pepignan was trying to reinvent itself and aligning itself more to Barcelona, which is closer, than to Paris.

In the evening we went walking in the old city. While looking around for dinner we were persuaded to dine at a place called Chez Sarda by a very personable Moroccan woman who might have been the owner. We got a nice shellfish meal for 15€ each.

The floodlit red Castillet was quite pretty from the other side of the canal.

We strolled around the streets in the cool night air and I took a few night shots before we called it a night.