27-28 July 2019

Despite our best efforts to arrive mid afternoon at Fred and Noemies, it was 7pm by the time we arrived. Our promises to the kids of an afternoon by the pool were dashed as it was pouring rain and 20 degrees – the recent European heatwave having broken on top of southern France during our return trip with massive storms and a drop of 15+ degrees. 

Despite having only just returned from holidays themselves, the Guillot’s welcomed us back warmly (again) and it was lovely to give the kids more time to get to know each other better… and for us to hang out for another night with Fred and Noemie. 

As we ate our steaks, drank our wine and watched the kids perform a ‘spectacle’ (could have done without that if we’re going to be honest!) we knew that the decision to delay Perpignan for the night was a good one. 

Rather than leave early the following day, we spent the morning having a leisurely breakfast and playing various games around the house including ‘molkky’ (a petanque like game), table tennis and trampolining and generally just hanging out. It was lovely. 

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Homemade pizzas fresh from Fred’s pizza oven were the order of the day for lunch before we finally dragged ourselves away from what has really started to feel like our second home and hit the road for Perpignan, 4.5 hours to the south west. 

As we made our way down the autoroute towards Marseille we marvelled at the efficiency of the french peage system (so much more efficient than the Italian ones, which cause traffic jams every 20 kms or so) and lamented the lack of baristas at each of the service stops (that were omnipresent around Italy). 

Having had such a wonderful, social time over the last 2 weeks or so, we were excited to have some lower tempo ‘family time’ – and maybe even not drink for a day or two (stranger things have happened). 

We felt like we were now heading out for the biggest ‘travel’ that we would do this year – it was the end of another wonderful chapter that had been the last 10 days with friends in Lyon and Tuscany – and the start of a new one for us a family around the Iberian Peninsula for the next 4 weeks. 

The drive itself was pleasant but relatively uneventful as we made our way south and west across France. 

We didn’t hit Perpignan until about 7.30 Sunday evening, fairly unsuccessfully navigating the 13th century old town to find our apartment, which was centrally located overlooking the Place de la Republic.

It seems that not a great deal happens in Perpignan old town on a Sunday evening (it actually felt a little dodgy) but we eventually found a nice little brassiere and had a nice dinner before collapsing into bed. 

The following morning, after a quick early morning run to explore the town, we headed out of Perpignan, and out of France, to start our Iberian adventure. 

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