Things are looking up (and down) in Perpignan
with Henry Shaftoe
A notable, but rarely celebrated, improvement, during the last ten years in Perpignan‘s public realm, has been the reduction in dog mess on the pavements.
Back in the day, one had to be constantly looking down to avoid stepping in doggy do. Nowadays the risk is much reduced and one can look up with impunity when walking the streets.
But this is not primarily an article about ‘les crottes de chien’ ; I want to encourage you to cast your gaze upwards, as you wander through central Perpignan. And also to take the opportunity to look down from a great height.
Look up, because sometimes the architects‘ finest moments are articulated at roof level. We tend to miss these flights of fancy because, as descendants of hunter/gatherers, we tend to scan horizontally rather than vertically as we walk.
An acquaintence who made a living by doing up tatty houses and selling them on, explained to me, that as a result of this horizontally orientated tendancy, it was most important to tart up everything visible between 1 and 2 meters above the floor level ; the rest you could leave relatively tatty !
Architects however, tend to design on horizontal (or slightly angled) drawing boards (or they did before computer aided design came along), so the top of a building seems to be just as important aesthetically as the lower parts.
You can find some magnificent examples of upper embellishment in (among others) : Boulevard Wilson, Rue Jeanne d’Arc, Rue du Castillet and Avenue de la Gare.
It can also be gratifying to look down on Perpignan, from a great height, to see the glorious patchwork of roofs, terraces and upper stories. You can do this from two central locations :
- Firstly, the roof terrace of Galeries Lafayette is accessible for the price of a cup of tea
- Secondly, for the princely sum of 2€, and assuming you do not suffer from vertigo, you can climb the spiral staircases of the ancient Le Castillet gatehouse to the very highest point of this venerable building.
Both these locations offer spectacular 360 degree views of the city. There are some pretty impressive views also from various points in the sprawling Palais des Rois de Majorque, although you are slightly off centre.
So next time you are in Perpignan’s historic core, don’t worry too much about what ‘man’s best friend’ might have deposited on the pavement, and cast your eyes upwards!