Caught in Collioure

From Nimes we took our last drive south to Collioure--about a 2.5 hour drive on the EU tollways. The Camargue is just south of Nimes.

These freeways are everybit as modern as our own. It is impressive to see trucks from all over the EU on these roads. This is quite a powerful union! We left the tollway at Perpignan and drove a very nice road to Collioure--about 20 more minutes down the road. I dropped Leticia off at the hotel and took the rental car to turn it in back in Perpignan. I point this out because it brought out just what a vibrant transporation system exists in Europe. The road was a great well surfaced road--much of it 4 lanes. But i didn't have to catch a bus or taxi to get back--I caught a train! A very powerful and robust multimodal system.











Here is beautiful Collioure. We had hoped to take a few days in a small mediterranean beach town before heading down to Barcelona--but the weather wouldn't collaborate! Cold and drizzly again. We had about one good morning (when we took this picture). This is French Catalonia. Perpignan is its capital (Perpinà to them). Catalan culture very much in evidence everywhere. The red and yellow vertical stripes of their flag is present, but not quite as common as in Barcelona.

As always--wonderful little plazas everywhere!

The train station at Port Bou, Spain, where we had to change trains. This is the train that took us into Barcelona--about the same as the one that brought us from Collioure to this point. (Notice that is is electric--it merges in with the Barcelona metro much as the French RER in Paris).