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CA©ret
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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, CA©ret is also a big centre for
corridas
; the arena is on the other side of town from the market, out towards the AmA©lie-les-Bains road. Other high points include the Easter Sunday procession of the Resurrected Christ, at the time of year when CA©ret's famous cherry harvest is also getting under way. And there is an international
sardana
jamboree on the penultimate Sunday in August.
CA©ret's main sight, however, is the remarkable MusA©e 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 MarA©chal-Joffre. In the early years of this century, CA©ret'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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