Ceret - Le Balcon and lunch at the Vidal

We planned to go out to lunch today so I went for a walk this morning. George and I had walked many of the paths when we were here before and we had walked the one called Le Balcon, never understanding the name or finding the namesake.

Some of the signs, like this one, indicate not only the name of the route but also the
estimated time to reach the destination.

This time I looked closely at the sign where I crossed a road and realised that the Balcon was not up the trail but 5 minutes along the road.

Walking up the road was easier than this.

Every now and then a bench was placed beside the road. Welcome rest stops as it was still a steep climb.

Looking down on lower Ceret and the 3 bridges.

Finally I reached the Balcon, a lookout with a large table covered in tiles painted to depict the scene spread out in front of you with landmarks labelled.

 

Down the Tech Valley towards the Mediterranean.

Across Ceret to the hills on the other side of the valley.

Towards Canigou which today is completely obliterated by clouds. I will come back on
a clearer day to really appreciate the views.

Walking back down: where a stream had been directed out of a wall

Now it looks much less sophisticated and a sign indicates its non potable.

I just finished reading a book called The Winemaker by Noah Gordon. It is about one man struggling to make
a go of a small vineyard in Spanish Catalonia in the early 1800s. He can't afford to dig a cellar
 to age his wine in and he finds a cave on his property, digs it out, puts a door on it and uses it as his wine cellar.
I have seen doors like this into hillsides all over the place and now I wonder if they were once wine cellars.

The entrance into the Hotel Vidal is in the old town, just up a small road across from the Hotel
Arcades which houses Café Pablo.

These are the windows of the dining room which is on the second floor and looks out
across the street to the other hotel. The rusty shield on the balcony and the carved one on
the wall are the same but there is a different one below, on the door which must once have been
the front door and is now a retail store.

Its an old hotel that hasn't been updated for a long time. Wood and wallpaper, a marble fireplace
with a hot water heating radiator in it, wooden tables and chairs, heavy drapes. It looks like it should
smell musty but it doesn't.

We had the 14 Euro Menu de Dia. No choices; salad, plat du jour and dessert. The Plat was
roast chicken with roast veggies and was very good. Dessert was Crème Catalan.

It has a charming patio but they don't seem to be using it yet