Ceret - un beau promenade, la cascade.

Our "croissant walk" included a stop for pate this morning. There are 3 butchers in town as well as the butchers trucks at the market on Saturday.

The butcher was very friendly, asking us, in French, if there were a lot of butchers in Canada.
He apologised for not speaking English well and one of the other customers commented, in French,
 that he was an excellent butcher and that was the more important thing.

There is a choice of about 6 pates. Last week we purchased "Pate Catalan" at the other
butchers (the least expensive option) so today we bought the least expensive, "Pate
Campagne", to do a fair comparison.

Mum, Dad and I walked into the old section this morning. Dad is walking a couple of times a day and the strength in his leg is gradually improving. There were more sun loving animals out:

 

Second floor window looking over Place des Neuf Jets.

Sitting next to us a Café Pablo, think he's having a café creme.

Lunch is getting more extensive as we explore different grocery options. Baguette,
butter, pate, cheeses from the market, olives, cucumber, apple and pear.

I decided to see if I could find the waterfall that George and I had walked to a couple of times when we were here last. We were given directions then by our landlord. The path is not included in the booklet of paths around Ceret and it is not marked in any organized manner. In fact I seem to remember that it took us 2 or 3 attempts before we found it. It is not exactly a secret but nor is it promoted to those visiting the area. I would imagine in the summer it is a lovely cool spot that the locals would like to keep to themselves.

Out Rue d'Espagne and right into a residential area. This little sign is on a garden fence.

Keep walking up hill and this sign on a tree directs down a street and to a little
track into the valley.



Beside garden plots and fruit trees

The path gets a little rougher as it proceeds into the gorge that has been formed by the river.

It is easy to walk across the river on rocks and what may have once been a bridge.

 

There a pools of water joined by little waterfalls and chutes.

 

Continuing up the gorge the path is very rocky.

 

I could hear the waterfall before I could see it. The path was blocked by huge
boulders that had fallen from the cliffs above.

 

I didn't try to reach it instead choosing to take a shot with the zoom and sit and enjoy
the sound of falling water and bird song.

 Walking back I met a man with a wheelbarrow and a dog. I stopped to stroke the dog and he, (the man, not the dog), spoke to me in French. I answered haltingly "Je marche a la cascade" and he replied "Ah, un beau promenade, la cascade!".

 To finish the post; dinner. It must be duck season because all the supermarkets had duck on sale and we had a breast and then promptly bought 2 more and froze them. Tonight we cooked one in a sauce of tomato puree, soy sauce, chilli, ginger,  honey and wine.

To start; tomato slices alternated with mozzarella and manchenco cheese, topped with
anchovies, oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

The duck was browned, then roasted and lastly simmered in the thickened sauce. We had it with
cauliflower and decided the sauce would be good with pork tenderloin as duck does not seem to
be as available at home.