Ceret - Packing, cleaning and goodbye

Last day today. First things first. We had finished the box of wine last night so Aimee and I went out the domaine we have been frequenting and bought our "good" bottle of wine.

After yesterdays research it was interesting to see that they had some of the vines pruned so
that one of last years branches ran along a wire

and some with no stakes or wires, pruned so that there were short pieces of last years
growth (with 2 or 3 buds).

We drove to Port Argeles and sat in a café for about an hour and a half, just chatting, drinking coffee and looking at the boats and the mountains, in the sun.

We walked along the waterfront of Argeles sur Mer but it was very windy and we
turned back as I was getting sand in my eyes.

The afternoon was taken up with packing and cleaning and then we walked to Le Pablo for a last glass of wine (or 2).

Outside Le Pablo, taken by Antony.

In "Bella Tuscany", Frances Mayes wrote "If you settle in, even for 2 weeks, live in a house not in  hotel, and you buy figs and soap at the local places, sit in cafes and restaurants, go to a local concert or church service, you cannot help but open to the resonance of a place and the deeper you go, the stranger the people become because they're like you and they're not" Yes to feeling the "resonance" of the place but I'm not sure I agree about the "strangeness" of the people. Yes there are differences from me, from the culture I live in but there are so many underlying samenesses. The café culture is different I've seen it a bit in Toronto in the patio culture but there is a frantic sense to it there as the summer is so short and its a busy city. But the underlying joy in sitting for an extended period of time outside, relaxing, with friends or a newspaper is not strange. The double kiss is different as a greeting but not the need to greet and the happiness to see friends. The amazingly well behaved dogs, often off leash, sitting at the cafes or walking with their owners is different but not the love of dogs and the obvious affection. "They're like me and they're not" gives me a feeling of familiarity and comfort but also the excitement of being "away".

Needed to use up some leftovers.

On our last night here Ceret said goodbye with our first pink sunset.