Céret town council has recently appointed a private firm to run parking patrols, and locals who live and work in town and rarely move their cars were unpleasantly surprised to find that they’d disappeared. Their first reaction was to report them stolen to the police, only afterwards realising that they’d been towed as they’d been parked in the same spot for over a week.

Saint Laurent de Cerdans is well worth a visit any time for its church with tall steeple, its Retirada museum (not as harrowing as the main museum in La Jonquera, but informative and well presented) and its many local walks in the footsteps of escapees from the Spanish Civil War. However the village is best known for its production of the beautiful striped fabric, the “Toiles du Soleil” and its long tradition of hand crafted ‘espadrilles

The new Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées region has come second in France in the Pavillon Bleu awards for the cleanliness of its lakes and beaches, just behind Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur . Fifty two beaches  have been awarded the increasingly…

Céret town council has recently appointed a private firm to run parking patrols, and locals who live and work in town and rarely move their cars were unpleasantly surprised to find that they’d disappeared. Their first reaction was to report them stolen to the police, only afterwards realising that they’d been towed as they’d been parked in the same spot for over a week.

On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I decided to take a break from the kitchen and the tempting calories within, and went for a stroll up our road. Between our house and that of our shepherdess neighbour, I spied a small white van parked haphazardly at the side of the narrow road. Our normally jolly, moustachioed neighbour appeared to be slumped over the wheel.

If you fancy trying some wine that has been submerged 5m below the surface for 5 months, then get yourself to Canet on the 15th May. About 240 bottles were left in a secret location by 8 wine makers of the “Galets Roulés” region around Perpignan, who claim that the pressure and darkness at that depth provide the perfect conditions for maturing the wine.

Catalan Cuisine By Ellen Turner Hall If you are interested in the evolution of Catalan cooking, recognized by many as the best in the world, go and see “Autour de la table”, Catalan cooking from…