Collioure – French Jewel of the South

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This chapter is taken from my book ‘OFF the AUTOROUTE’ – a journey around France from Normandy to the South stopping in between

We first set eyes on the beauty that is Collioure on an evening excursion to the town in our tour company’s minibus on our first foray into France. This was a slightly unnerving trip of some twenty miles with a somewhat unconvincing driver on a bus packed full of fellow travellers. If the journey out to Collioure was unnerving it was nothing compared with the trip back to our camp site Brasilia in Canet Plage.  So, back to our first evening in Collioure. Our journey back to Canet is a few hours hence, but before we have that fraught journey home we discover a place that is still in our hearts. Perhaps our favourite location anywhere. Yes, it is that beautiful. The people are as warm as the evening air. To sit on a restaurant terrace by the harbour, with the stunning seascape is quite incomparable. Total bliss. 

The sea very gently laps onto the beach and the sound is soft and relaxing as it does so. The evening light reflects the harbour cafés in the smooth sea. You feel that even the sea cannot be bothered to make the effort to reach the sand and just wants to chill in these beautiful and peaceful surroundings. All is well with the world in Collioure and perhaps this is just the most beautiful location in France – we have grown to think so. On this mild clear evening it has become dark, though illuminated by the lights of the harbour front cafés and bars and the spotlights focused on Collioure’s church, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, a former converted lighthouse. There is of course in this gorgeous setting the natural moonlight sparkling on the sea and reflected on the brightly coloured fishing boats that are such a feature of the harbour at Collioure.  These small boats have inspired so many artists over the years, being painted and photographed so often that they are synonymous with this beautiful harbour. In the full light of day we will see them at their best later in the week and subsequent visits.  Artists and artisans such as Andre Derain, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Charles Rennie Mackintosh along with many others have been inspired by the magical light and views on offer here in Collioure.

Inside the Restaurant Bar Templiers, a bar that has a particularly attractive terrace on Avenue Camille Pelleton, there are copies adorning the walls of art works left by Picasso, Matisse, Dali, and others. They had the originals left to them by the artists but some of these were stolen years ago and so very understandably no originals are to be seen on display. On the quayside down along the avenue there are many modern-day artists painting the very same scenes, some to particularly good effects, others perhaps are a little dubiously talented. It all makes for a lovely peaceful and atmospheric scene. Along the front of the small half-moon shaped beach with the church as its focal point there are numerous cafés and restaurants, with more bars set back from the beach. Most of these have a terrace spilling out right up to the sand. The view from one of these tables is I feel as good as it gets, and it is one that must be savoured over a latte or a beer or a lovely, chilled rosé wine. Back to Michael Palin and his first tourist film for TV. As we know he finished his journey up in the west coast of Scotland being filmed sitting having breakfast at a window table in his hotel. His comment was that if he were to make a series of ‘Greatest Breakfast Table Views of the World’ then this was surely one of them. This view on Collioure beach front must be another.

This scene spread out in front of you does come at a premium though and if you look hard enough you may find a hidden price list for the bar just to warn you that it is one of the more expensive views in France. On a subsequent visit our daughter Charlotte did not check this small detail but sat down with her friend in a comfortable chair, ordering two small glasses of Cola. She ended up at bill payment time having to leave her friend as hostage and trawl the streets of Collioure to find me and get me to come with her to pay the bill. Her two small glasses of cheap cola were the equivalent of over 10 English pounds, a quite extortionate sum but you are definitely paying for the view. She was probably expecting to pay around 2 pounds or so.  You may feel that it is a better option merely to enjoy the view and eat or drink elsewhere later. I have a photo of her taken after we settled up, bill in hand looking very aggrieved with her mother clearly mouthing, ‘You paid HOW MUCH?’ A lesson expensively learned.

If you walk around to the old side of the bay, you will find some more enticing restaurants, and these offer a view back across the harbour towards the church and the little white chapel on the small rocky outcrop. In some ways you may feel that this is an even better view and a little less expensive perhaps because you must do a little bit of walking to get here. It is a very pleasant stroll around the bay past the Château Royal. On our next visit we ate at the Restaurant Le Neptune on the terrace and enjoyed a wonderful fish and seafood meal with this glorious view before us. Good memories. On this first evening visit we soaked up the lively vibrant atmosphere. Most of the café, restaurants, and shops stay open late along the labyrinth of narrow streets. Of course, as tourists we fell for the brightly coloured pottery so typical of Collioure and an inevitable purchase followed.  Back on the seafront, even though it was now quite dark, there were people still on the beach just as if the sun is still out. Many of them were continuing to swim out to the floating raft in the harbour which eventually held an incredible number of bathers, with many unable to stay on and overbalancing into the sea. It was an atmosphere of great relaxation and contentment and one that certainly got under our skin that evening as we have returned to this beautiful town many times over the years.

At a small bar just off the seafront we see a newfound friend from our campsite, Jacques on his night off from entertaining the campers, straddling his Harley Davidson and holding court with friends. Clearly this coast is his ‘turf’, he has many friends in the area and they appear to be enjoying a very chilled evening, so we refrain from saying hello. We would return later in the week to Collioure for a full day and in future years would acquaint ourselves with the wonderful bold Collioure AOC Red wines. However, the gorgeous light is the star of this beautiful place. The soil and terroir and its fruits are an awfully close second and the wines produced here are superb.  We would also get to know the small village of Banyuls just down the coast with its luscious rich sweet wines, produced without adding sugar, just from what the soil gives them, of course with the help of that blazing sun. We would lunch well on fish, freshly prepared and with a view of the harbour. Eat the most exquisite desserts that we would come to expect every time from French pâtissiers. We would learn how to sit quietly and not to rush, taking in the views and contemplate the scene, admiring the modern-day artists working quietly on views that have already been painted a thousand times.  And even later our daughter Charlotte would spend her honeymoon here in Collioure at the Casa Pairal, despite my ‘best efforts’ to get them to miss their original flight – another story.

So, you can see reasons why it is a place for which we have great affection, there are more stories to tell, we will continue to return to this beautiful part of the world, part of France but most certainly Catalan.

My new book is out on Amazon July 16th – A journey back in time through my vinyl record collection