Collioure
 

Can anyone comment on Collioure? Ron,Underhill, St. Cirq?...we are planning on spending a portion of Oct.,'95 in the SE of Languedoc/Roussillon with a border crossing to Barcelona.

We've spent some time (not enough)in Collioure and loved it. It is a really beautiful seaside town, with a lovely cove.

I think you could use it as a base, and spend two to three of your days exploring the town itself. We stayed at Hotel les Templiers, which is worth a visit for its history (the owner's father was a friend of many of the artists inspired by Collioure--Picasso, Matisse--and while the walls are no longer decked with their works, they do feature lesser-known artists.) The rooms are very very basic (although cheap at about 55euros per night)and I wouldn't necessarily recommend staying there, but at the very least visit the bar.

The hotel most people seem to like and recommend is Casa Pairal. We walked by and it looked charming from the outside. There are a number of good restaurants nearby, and some wineries with tasting rooms. One of the local wineries, Chateau de Jau, also has a restaurant. One of the recent issues of Wine Spectator has an article on the region; it might worth trying to track it down.

I really enjoyed Coullioure for the natural setting. Lots of the view hotels are on the southern end which is quite a walk from the town itself. The view is spectacular but I actually moved into a hotel in the town itself because it's easier to stroll & enjoy the beach town. It's quaint and real enough but also gentrified for tourists. I think Henry Matisse made it famous through his paintings. Wide long beaches dotted with restaurants (but not jammed like cote d'azur). It's a slow place. The most memorable thing we did was eating zarzuella in the beachfront restaurants. I'd go back just for the zarzuela.

I agree with elle, Casa Pairal looks like the nice place to stay in town with catalan architecture. We couldn't get a room there and stayed at the Princess Catalogne (70 euros I think), it was nicer than basic but it doesn't have the architecture.

Thanks Elle and DAX. Sounds just like what I am hoping for...perhaps a less crowded version of Cassis, or St. Tropez in the early '50's, pre-Bardot. We are staying one week in a friend's apt. in the village of Claira, then want to stay a few days in Colliure before crossing to Barcelona.

Collioure, which is packed in high season, will be lovely in October. I agree with elle about the Casa Païral and Hôtel des Templiers. Two good restaurants are La Frégate and La Balette. Be sure to try the anchovies, a local specialty. We also had a very nice meal in the center of town in Port-Vendres, which was very untouristed, even in July.

Be sure to visit Céret while you're there, as well as Banyuls and of course some of the villages along that Costa Brava.

Another "Yes!" for Collioure. I spent only an afternoon there on a daytrip from a rental cottage in Langedoc, but I want to return.

By the way, the coastal roads leading TO Collioure from further up the French coast are fine; the coastal road towards the Spanish border is breathtaking, twisting and turning along the rocky shoreline. As soon as you pass the Spanish border, the coastal road gets narrower, if that is possible, and the countryside is less prosperous than in France.

Another vote for Casa Pairel. We dined at the Chateau de Jau.( Riversaltes) The Jau de Jau is our house wine. There's an art gallery there and I still have the T-shirt I bought, with the Jau name on created by the well-known French artist BEN(as on the bottle)there's a lovely little village of Castelnou. At the top of this artist colony is a restaurant with a view.That year we also stayed at St Cyprian-Plage and had a picnic lunch overlooking the beach on our balcony.We also stayed the the Village of books, Montolieu.

I am assunming that all of the people who commented stayed there in peak season. We visited in the end of Feb. and many of the hotels were closed down. In fact, we couldn't find a room for the 1st night there (didn't have reservations assuming there would be no one there). Stayed in Banyuls the 1st night, and it didn't call to us. Stayed at the Templiers the 2nd night. we are budget travellers and so not used to luxury, but doubt if I'd recommend the hotel. I don' know what the weather will be like in Oct., but my guess is that what you'll find will be a very different screne from peak season.

julies, I'm glad you mentioned the Templiers. Can you say why you wouldn't recommend it. A friend is considering it because a book she quoted says it
s a quayside hotel full of character at acceptable prices. Walls covered with original art works.

We stayed there in May--more of a shoulder season, I guess. Neither haute nor bas.

As for the Hotel des Templiers, it is very funky. You have to go into the bar to check in (staff is super friendly), then go back outside and around the hotel to another street, where you enter the hotel from the back side of the building. It's a pedestrian street, so you do have to schlep your bags quite a bit. This may not be the procedure for all of the rooms--I did see a staircase leading up from the bar.

Some of the staircases are beautiful, with porcelain tile in the risers. The furniture in the room was Catalan and quite interesting. Our room was dark, though, very little natural light (which struck me as odd, considering that we were near the sea), and the textiles were dreary.

We're used to small rooms and small bathrooms, but even so. . . the <i>en suite</i> bathroom was so small that at first we couldn't find it. We thought we had made a mistake and perhaps it was down the hall. Then I noticed a small louvered hole in the wall--'twas no larger than a single window shutter. Voila--a long, narrow bathroom complete with shower, toilet, and sink, all lined up in single file. Neither my husband nor I are large people but this was one of the most claustrophia-inducing bathrooms we had seen.

I would stay there again for 55 euros, but I wouldn't stay there for 75 euros.

The day that we left the hotel, as we were bringing our luggage out back, we glanced up and noticed that the house next door had a laundry line hanging in front of it. The only laundry hanging on the line was a pair of white feather angel wings. We took a picture of them--what a sweet sight. Can't wait to go back to Collioure and the surrounding area.

Elle, I think I saw your photo on line last year? Possibel?

Hmmm, I've never gotten around to scanning pix from last year. But maybe my husband did and he posted it on his web site? I'll have to check.

re Templiers:

My thought is that you can probably do better for your money. Yes it was interesting climbing the stairway to our room and looking at the art on the wall. And, there were a coupld pieces of art in our room. But the room itself was nothing. Quite dark and dreary, not particularly large. It had a shuttered windows/balcony combo. If you wedged yourself in the window the proper way you could look down the street. We've had many better rooms in many other places at the same price range.

Laidback--

Sorry, but we have yet to make it to Collioures. Someday we will because Dufy painted in the area, and I believe some of his work is in the museum there. Please have a look for me.

Wow what great responsiveness; thanks. Our budget travelling days are thankfully over and &quot;The Bible&quot;lists the Casa Pa&iuml;ral at the top, and it appears to stay open through October.

St. Cirq...we will definitely check out Banyuls and C&eacute;ret.

elle...thanks for the details and the W.S. tip.

Zarzuela to come with thoughts of DAX.

KidsToLondon...I love the coastal drives along the Med, but so far the most southern ones have been in the Cassis area. I will cut back on a well vinified lunch before attempting the one you describe across the border.

We just stayed at the Casa Pairal at the end of June in room #12. It was a cute little inn with lots of ambience. The pool and courtyard area are very pretty. We ate at L'Amphytrion which had a nice view &amp; good food.

Another vote for Casa Pairal, La Balette, and a trip to Castelnou!

Also worthwhile is a day trip down to Figueras, in Spain, where there is a wonderful Dali museum.

Re: Hotel les Templiers. We must have gotten lucky during our two night stay in Sept. of '02. My notes are that our room was fairly bright and airy with a small balcony overlooking the street scenes of a beautiful coastal village that was both french and catalan. I agree with the &quot;funky&quot; description but we had no complaints and we very much enjoyed being in the center of things--all for about 55 euros per night. Our view was of the Chateau Royale, the port and the village. Sorry, I didn't note the room number.
Collioure is one of our fondest memories, we sampled many wines from the area, watched the harvest, enjoyed great food and marveled at the energy of the locals in a mid-week dance under the stars. And then there was the local art,market, hikes and scenery! I don't think you can go wrong there. Good luck, Paul.

ttt