Collioure, France

This weekend, our trip was to a town in Southern France called Collioure. It is a beautiful town that is both on the Mediterranean and tucked in the Pyrenees Mountains. The bus ride from Tarragona took about 4 hours. While on the bus, our teacher handed us each a piece of paper and told us we needed to write a poem (in Spanish) because we were going to visit the gravesite of a famous poet, Antonio Machado. I was so happy when we arrived in Collioure because it was so cute! Only problem, was that the sky was looking very grey! Sure enough, it was pouring by the time we arrived, and we all got soaked as they handed out our hotel keys. Samantha and I shared a room, band it was MUCH nicer that our accommodations in Barcelona! After settling into our rooms, the group went on a castle tour. For the first time, we didn’t have a guided tour and that was really exciting (there’s only so many guided historical tours I can take)! But rather than wandering around aimlessly in the castle, I thought it would be fun if I pretended to be the tour guide. I made up stories about every room, even saying that one of the jail cells was my sister’s room… sorry Mary! We had a good time with it, and took some beautiful pictures.

 

Below: Samantha and I are in love with Collioure... and each other!

After the castle, we (and our poems) headed to the gravesite of Antonio Machado. It is tradition for students to bring and read poems when the visit Machado's grave. So, we exchanged poems and read each other's poems aloud. It was a really neat experience, and I'm happy to have been part of the tradition!

We had an hour of free time after the poetry reading, so we walked around town and did what I do best… shopping! There were sooo many cute stores, so I was having the time of my life. In France, I felt like a foreigner for the first time when my friend, Amanda, and I were trying to order ice cream. In Spain, I know enough Spanish to fit in… but not in France! The only word I know is merci (thank you), so I just kept smiling and pointing and saying “merci” over and over! Luckily, he was a very nice Frenchman, not the stereotypical snotty one!

Later on, we took a little train around the town, through the vineyards, and up the mountains. It was nice to relax, take pictures, and see everything Collioure had to offer. It is such a gorgeous place! For dinner we had crepes, which I didn’t particularly enjoy, but I’m always up for a cultural experience! At least now I can say, “I’ve eaten crepes in France.” The dessert crepes were a little better… they were covered in Nutella, so how could they not be?! It started raining again after dinner, so I opted to hang out in the hotel rather than go out.  I was tired after a long, yet amazing day :)

The beds in the hotel were sooo comfy, but I didn’t sleep very well because of a crazy storm. The thunder was so loud! I was a little cranky in the morning, but my croissant at breakfast made everything better. There must have been a whole stick of butter in it because it was the best croissant I’ve ever had! I ate breakfast quickly so I would have a little bit of time to explore the outdoor market before our bus left. I ended up buying a print of a painting by a local artist! She was the nicest old lady and I’d love to go back and get some of her originals some day!

I wish we would have spent more time in Collioure… I love it so much! But we had to leave early Sunday morning. We headed back to Spain and made a stop in a town called Figueres to visit the Salvador Dali museum. It was a great day… which I’ll write about after I get some sleep!