Even Dave needs to stop now and then and gather his wits, so a rest stop ahead looked inviting. We pulled in to a large gravel area overlooking a splendid vista, and what do we hear? Ola! A gentleman is beckoning us over. He is offering wine tasting. He has a small cabana with a great selection of wines made within a five mile radius. Wine tasting? BC liquor laws ring in our heads; a wine tasting on a semi remote narrow winding cliffside road? Why not?
Dave the Brave begins a conversation, this fellow is related to most of Quebec, and has lots of advice on where we should eat/stay/visit. We buy a $18 bottle to thank him for his time and continue on our way.
Collioure Appelation wine.
The winding road eventually led to Cadaques, a village right on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Driving down into Cadaques
Our hotel is overlooking the beach where small wooden fishing boats are casually scattered. Cadaques is one of those places one thinks only exists on post cards. Even when you look at it with your own eyes, you still think it might be a movie set and will vanish in morning. But no, it is real, and what's better, it is a town that has some tourists, as opposed to a tourist town. The streets, restaurants and bars are filled with regular townsfolk, and there is not a souvenir shop to be seen.
STONES
OK, picture this. Lots of flat, smooth rocks. And you need to build a road (think five hundred years ago) You would take those rocks and lay them out with some grout of some description, right? Well, yes, that is how the roads in Cadaques are made. But instead of arranging those rocks flat, they chose to put them sideways, as in narrow edge up. This makes for the roughest, bumpiest, most uneven roads I have ever walked on. In the cracks between the rocks are weeds, gravel and the ever present dog poo. Glad I left my heels at home.
Two Cadaques Highlights:
1) While eating breakfast this morning a donkey galloped down the street beside us. Twenty minutes later it came back harnessed to it's owner.
2) Lunch yesterday, on a balcony overlooking the town and the sea. The balcony was 3 feet by 9 feet, two tables, 4 people, and an olive tree in a planter. One of the most delicious meals we've had.
One more highlight: a personal victory. Europeans are on a different time clock than we are. By 8:30pm Dave and I are snackered, and the rest of the continent is just getting going. Our last night in Cadaques we went out for dinner at 9:30!! Left at 11:00 while groups of people were starting their dinner. We felt very continental.
KA
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ReplyDeleteSpanish time drove me crazy! On our first night in Spain, my friend and I were staying with a very nice Indian expat named Rahul, who had agreed to show us around the town and stay at his apartment. Around 7 my friend and I were getting pretty hungry so we started getting ready and asked Rahul if he wanted to join us for dinner. He looked confused. And then he laughed. And then he explained to us that no restaurant in the city would be serving dinner for at least two hours. Seeing that we were quite distraught by this news, he led us downstairs and to a wonderful little bar by the beach, where he introduced us to a sort of 'Spanish happy hour'. With a few glasses of wine in us, we forgot all about our hunger and were quite happy to chat in broken Spanish and take in the atmosphere until the restaurants opened around 9 or 10. And the seafood paella we eventually enjoyed was so worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're having a great time! Soak up that Mediterranean sunshine!
Hi Alanna, nice to hear from you. Yesterday we did a spanish lunch. we sat down at 2:45 and although the restaurant closed at 4:30 it was still full when we left 5! A huge meal, but the best part is -- the local bottle of wine was only 6 Euro. Needless to say we didn't need much for dinner! I hope you're enjoying your new apartment.
ReplyDeleteDave