22 through 23 May – Minerve and Collioure

22 May

We take Sheri and Gene to the picturesque village of Minerve.

Memorial to Cathars Burned at the Stake
Memorial to Cathars Burned at the Stake

They think the little town is as neat as we do. We hike around a bit and then decide it’s time for lunch. We look at a few places and, as we wander the little alleyways, we are surprised to be greeted by a lady with samples from her chocolate shop. How can we resist? She also has nougat–I LOVE nougat! So I buy nougat and Sheri buys dark chocolate. The lady is a bit pushy. Sheri says she would like about a third of a very large piece of chocolate as indicated with her hand. The lady is sure that Sheri wants the larger 2/3 of the piece. Nice try…

We look at a few restaurants’ menus but we eventually settle on our “usual” place, Les Troubadours, for lunch. This is our third time here–the lunch is so good it’s hard to resist. We, as usual, have the luscious duck confit. The server is the same young lady that annoyed me so much the last time we were here BUT she is as sweet as can be this time. The last time she insisted that she did not speak a word of English but today she gives us a little help as we order. Our side dishes to the duck confit are delicious: eggplant, turnips, cannoli beans, baked cherry tomatoes on stem. It was a great day!

Tonight I hear an incredible wind when I go to bed. I hope tomorrow is nice.

23 May

Today we show Sheri and Gene Collioure! Marie arrives at 9 so we can be on the road early. It is a beautiful day. Of course we give them the usual tour.

Boats in Collioure Harbor
Boats in Collioure Harbor

We sit at the harbor-side cafe and enjoy Sangria. It’s so lovely and comfortable we have lunch there. Sheri has goat cheese and smoked duck breast salad; Gene has steak and frites; and Howard and I have squid with frites. We wander the alleyways and peek in the shops. Howard eventually finds himself at the knife shop; for him it is addictive and I feed his addiction since I love the knives too. Howard buys a beautiful, hand-made kitchen knife by the shop’s owner: Gilles Treillaud. His wife runs the shop and she has been very helpful and gracious every time we’ve been there; this is our third time. If we are here on another trip we need to visit his shop in the nearby mountains: Atelier 20 rte St Barbe 66320 Rodes, France (gtreillaud@wnanadoo.fr).

It rains a bit on the way home.

 

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