Visa Pour l’Image. What a great way to explore and enjoy Perpignan, as you wander from venue to venue in this historic centre.
Picture the gods cleaving the earth with a monstrous axe and you have the spectacular Gorges de Galamus.
Walk east from Place de la République in Perpignan and you will arrive at the inner-city neighbourhood of St Jacques, a lively, colourful mix of native French, North Africans and Gitanes.
We pass evocatively named places busy with history; Besalú, St Jaume de Llierca, Castellfollit de la Roca before entering Olot and the Parc Natural de la Zona Volcanica de la Garrotxa abundant with fascinating conical and sometimes symmetrical hills.
Chateau Fort Liberia is perched above the beautiful village of Villefranche de Conflent.
This Estagel walk offers great views of the Corbières ridges and valleys and beyond. Straightforward, on easy pistes and tracks with some portions of road, and up a lovely rocky valley so walking boots are essential.
Today we’re heading up to the cooler air of the Conflent region, land of contrast, rich in culture and history, from its snowy peaks, wild, mountainous terrain and stunning lakes, to its many pretty and peaceful villages.
It’s 1946. War is over. On the sandy tracks of the Racou beach village, amidst fishermen’s huts and makeshift shelters thrown together in darker days by Spanish refugees, people, laugh, drink, share a pastis….
With quaint, cobbled streets, pretty squares, lively shops, restaurants, and bars, and art and music museums, there is certainly enough temptation to hang around the town, but there is plenty going on around and about too.
If you happen to be in Perpignan at the end of the summer and notice an unusually large number of people wandering around with large cameras dangling from their torsos, it is because you have stumbled across « Visa Pour L’Image ».
