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CAİret
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The first stop on the D115, the main road which follows the
Tech valley
inland all the way up to the Spanish border at Prats-de-Mollo, is
CA?RET
, capital of the Vallespir region, and served like the rest of the valley by regular buses from Perpignan's
gare routiA?re
. It is a delightful place, friendly and bustling, with a wonderfully shady old town overhung by huge plane trees. The streets are typically narrow and winding, opening onto small squares like the
place des Neuf-Jets
, so called because of its trickling fountain. There's a large and varied Saturday
market
, which spills out of place Pablo-Picasso into the main street, avenue d'Espagne, where two remnants of the medieval walls, the
Porte de France
and
Porte d'Espagne
, are visible. In summer, CAİret is also a big centre for
corridas
; the arena is on the other side of town from the market, out towards the AmAİlie-les-Bains road. Other high points include the Easter Sunday procession of the Resurrected Christ, at the time of year when CAİret's famous cherry harvest is also getting under way. And there is an international
sardana
jamboree on the penultimate Sunday in August.
CAİret's main sight, however, is the remarkable MusAİe d'Art Moderne (May to mid-June & mid-Sept to Oct daily 10am-6pm; mid-June to mid-Sept daily 10am-7pm; Nov-March daily except Tues 10am-6pm; 35F/5.34), just off boulevard MarAİchal-Joffre. In the early years of this century, CAİret's charms, coupled with the presence here of the Catalan artist and sculptor Manolo, drew a number of avant-garde artists to the town, including Matisse and Picasso, who personally dedicated a number of pictures to the museum; it also contains work by Chagall, DalA and Dufy, among others. Among the Picassos is a marvellous series of ceramic bowls illustrating bullfighting scenes and a sketch of a sardana . You can get more information on the corridas and other aspects of the town from the tourist office on avenue Clemenceau (July & Aug Mon-Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2-7pm, Sun 10am-12.30pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 10am-noon & 2-5pm, Sat 10am-noon; tel 04.68.87.00.53, www.ot-Ceret.fr ). If you wish to stay , try the very attractive and reasonably priced HA?tel Vidal in the place du 4-Septembre (tel 04.68.87.00.85, fax 04.68.87.62.33; 220-300F/34-46; restaurant from 80F/12.20). For campers, there's a municipal campsite just out of town on the Maureillas road.
Eating
options include a good, cheap restaurant-crA?perie,
Le Pied dans le Plat
, on place des Neuf-Jets, while gourmets with money to spare can try the best food for miles around at
Les Feuillants
(tel 04.68.87.37.88; closed Sun evening & Mon; from 275F/41.94), serving utterly delicious Catalan cuisine. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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