Dawn, at the start of our two-hour lunch in Port-Vendres

We did get to Collioure twice this week: once, with the whole caravan (two moms, two daughters, husband/wife), and twice, with just husband/wife. On the first trip we had a two-hour lunch in Port-Vendres at a sidewalk café: most everyone got mussels (moules) with fries; I got paella and “fruits de mer” as a starter. This included my first experience with snails, and I had them with garlic butter. I got my teeth on the end, tugged, and was surprised at how much came out!

We had a nice bottle of Rosé, then returned to our car. I changed into my swimsuit and we went down to the beach, near the condo where I lived in 1998. It’s early September, so you never know if it’s going to be the last swim for the season. The water was as I remember it, and buoyant enough you can just float on your back without any work.

Where we swam

We had a problem afterwards getting gas though, and I’ll add this to the list of multiple issues we’ve had with gas while in Europe. It just doesn’t work the same way everywhere; something unexpected is always possible. This time, there was no attendant at the station, so you had to use a credit card. None of our cards worked. So I went into the store to shop (it was by a grocery store), and asked the cashier in sloppy French if I could pay her for some gas, there. She said yes, but then she said no after consulting with another checker, so we had to go in search of a different station. I didn’t have enough gas to get back to Saint Pierre des-Champs.

My mom, Lily, and I drove to Banyuls (10 minutes from Spanish border) and got lucky though, and we were on our way back home.