Ceret - Windy Port Vendres

It  was very windy all night, rattling the big metal gates to our driveway, banging shutters, whistling through the trees in huge gusts and wooshes. It knocked over 2 wrought iron chairs in the garden. The gusty wind lasted all day but it was sunny and the sky a brilliant blue.
I went in search of sketching pens and had the fun of two gentlemen at the first shop I tried, try to explain to me where it was possible I would find some. They spoke so eloquently and fast with many gestures as to which way I should go, but at the end of it all I still didn't have a clue. Finally one said petanque so I knew it was down where the boche ball is played and then I caught the word "copy". Ah ha, I knew which shop they meant now as Dad had ordered rechargeable batteries for his camera from the office supply and copy shop. They were right, the copy shop had sketching pens.

On the way to the copy shop, this is the tourist office (on the right) and the Salle
Manalo, (the open door) which is a space used for art exhibitions. Currently there
is an exhibition by a local painter and sculptor. Previously it was a painter and
pen and ink artist. A new exhibition is due to go in this week.

In the little courtyard area outside the tourist office is a statue by the sculptor, Manalo. He was a
contemporary of Picasso and lived in Ceret at about the same time. It commemorates a composer,
who also lived in Ceret, and wrote music with lyrics in Catalan.

In this one small area, support for current artists and recognition of the artistic community of the past.

We headed to Port Argeles for lunch.

The sea was again very rough.

We ate at the same restaurant as before but had to eat inside, rather than out on the patio beside the marina, too windy. The restaurant even had its menu boards bungeed to posts to stop them blowing away. This time I had the curried mussels for first course, plat du jour for second (this was a fish in an orange and mushroom sauce with rice and curried carrots) and something called a fluatant (I think that was how it was spelled) for desert. It was a bowl of custard with meringue floating on top and a light caramel sauce drizzled over it. Coffee and red wine. Lovely couple of hours, while watching the boats in the marina sway and rock. Could just hear the "tang, tang, tang...." noise that ropes and hardware make banging against masts.
Afterwards we drove south along the coast, past Collioure to Port Vendres.

This is a multi use port. There are sailboats in a small area of docks but most of
the portside is taken up with fishing boats (small, medium and by that I mean about the size of a Lake Erie
 commercial fish tug, and large, huge commercial fishing/factory boats).

Huge piles of traps, nets and net buoys. There are also booth areas
where they must sell fish right off the boats.

Its a very protected harbour and must be quite deep. The entrance is in the centre of this
picture through a "dogs leg" . To the far right  is a container
ship that was being filled and there is a large industrial shipping area.

A pretty little mariners church at wharf side. Mum went in and said
it was very simple inside.