The clever network of signal towers (tours à signaux) that you see on the high mountain tops around the region date back to the 13th century. They were originally set up by the Rois de Majorque as a defence system to protect the Roussillon from invaders and to enable the passing of information around the region, using fire and smoke signals.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave… but no attempt at deception here! Find out the truth about the spiders in and around the P-O
One of their great writers, Jean de La Fontaine, produced French versions of fables, in verse and with illustrations. There are twelve volumes, with stories such as The Ant and the Grasshopper, told with elegance, wit and verve, in simple French which is usually easy to understand today. Each teaches a lesson about our relationships with society.
Céret composer Déodat de Séverac was born in Saint-Félix-Lauragais, not far from Toulouse, in 1872 and moved to Céret in the Pyrenees-Orientales.
Until the French Revolution, Madame, (my Lady, equivalent to Monsieur, my Lord) was mainly used to address the bourgeoisie, whilst Mademoiselle, (my Damsel) was the form of address used for both younger and older ‘common’ ladies.
How about Halloween in Villefranche de Conflent. Several shops sell ‘poupées sorcières’, as befits the legends of magic and witchcraft surrounding this region.
As winter turns to spring, let’s take another quizzical look over past articles – with one or two extra questions thrown in! Have you been paying attention?
Bunyetes are traditionally made and eaten at Easter all over Catalonia.
Baby you can drive my car… Wondering what’s changed since the last time you drove over? You can always depend on P-O Life readers to point you in the right direction.
Paul Verlaine often wrote poems that were simple and inexpressibly sad.