Day 38 and 39 – A little further south – Collioures

This 30 euros a night business is just silly so I planned to be out of there early. I wanted to drive just a few villages further south, literally right up to the Spanish border. Jo had mentioned Port Vendres, it’s a quaint fishing port just a little further south from Argeles. My plan was to drive that little bit further and if I didn’t find a cheap campsite to basically head inland along the line of the Pyrenees.

Now what I found quite surprising about this part of the coast is that the Pyrenees literally end right on the coast. There is a definite line about 4 Km south of Argeles where they begin, and they rise out of the sea as a line rocky hills gradually getting larger the further west you go. Port Vendres is a very picturesque village a lot like many Cornish villages, just over the line of hills, so you end up driving down into it. There was however no campsite. So after a brief coffee stop and a look around I headed North, out of town following the signs for Perpignan.

Just down there somewhere the sign said

While still in the hills I was surprised to find another tiny village I had missed; Collioures. Having driven through Collioures centre I drive uphill again, probably the very first hill that is the start of the Pyrenees and when I get to the top there is a campsite sign (only two stars so it’s probably cheap). I follow the sign and it takes me back down into a tiny secluded cove with its own piece of beach cut off at each end by the rocks. It is paradise! And it’s my kind of campsite.

The gate to the private bit of beach

I ended up staying 2 nights repeating my schedule of work and beach life that I inherited from Narbonne. The girl that ran the place was about my age and had what I believe to be her teenage son helping her. They were very friendly and had made a great looking place with loads of character. I was still paying 26 euro / night though so 2 days was as long as I dared.