With the kids at school H and I have a bit more time to do some things that are less kid friendly (or would just plain bore the kids!). Thursday we went for a slightly more energetic walk in the hills (climbing quite high), which all went well until the inevitable indecision over what path to take (at the furthest point of course); a critical decision given we had to get home to do the school pick up. Modesty prevents me from saying who made the right call, but suffice to say we got back OK.
Friday we headed to Elne (bishopric of Roussillon until the 19th C), about 20mins drive away, which has a famous Romanesque cathedral (11th C) and cloister (12th C). Also boasts a very good street market and art gallery which we checked out. Had a nice wander around including coffee with the locals.
Today, Saturday, we were back on the Dali trail – this time going to his home in the coastal Spanish town of Portlligat (about 2hrs drive if you take the scenic, crazy hairpinned hill route that we took on the way there; and 1hr 10min on the motorway back!). Dali and his missus, Gala, lived there for 50yrs gradually converting a series of waterside fisherman’s cottages into a labyrinth like home that has all the Dali quirks you’d expect (like mirrors positioned so you can see the sunrise from the bed, cages for crickets (which apparently Dali liked), a stuffed polar beer in the foyer, giant snail clock and an oval sitting room with stunning acoustics). The highlight was probably his studio (including two unfinished works which he was working on when Gala died, at which point he moved out) and the outside areas including a garden topped with egg forms (Dali was quite keen on eggs apparently) and a rather phallic swimming pool with a Pirelli tyre shrine. Weird...but all very cool. Pictures on Flickr.
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