No apologies for another shot of the Pic du Canigou in the Eastern Pyrenees, taken from the vineyards about two minutes drive from the villa. These are the first snows of the Autumn that we saw on the way to breakfast at Terrats last Friday. We also enjoy this view on one of our favourite running routes, but more on that later.

3-stars: Joseph Planes with a prize winning bottle of olive oil

So you think you know olive oil? Think again. Moulin Saint Pierre is a father to son business that’s been producing world famous olive oil for hundreds of years. Joseph Planes, who currently runs the organisation, was a bit vague when we asked how long the farm has been in the family although he reckons about six generations.

He was far more precise when he took us on the tour of the state of the art warehouse which produces about 35,000 litres of olive oil a year famous for its distinct  ‘douce’ and fruity flavour.

The secret here is a mixture of attention to detail and state of the art technology. Joseph and his team use 10 kilos of olives to produce one litre (the mass production ratio is typically 5:1).Fortunately that doesn’t translate into twice the price. Moulin Saint Pierre uses keeps costs down by using automatic harvesting machines and a dazzling array of centifruges that quickly fill the 6,000 litre vats that dominate the warehouse floor.

Rather like Les Toiles du Soleil, this is a great example of a small, local business that has gone global without losing any of its small world charm. Apart from supplying 3-star Michelin chefs, including the Pourcel brothers at the Jardin des Sens,  Joseph and his wife Monique, export to the United States, China and the UK where you can find the elegant Moulin Saint Pierre bottles in Harrods and John Lewis.

Two days from harvesting: olives ripe for picking

You can find Moulin Saint Pierre on the D612, the road that takes you from Thuir to Millas. It’s about 20 minutes drive from the villa and on the way to the Cathar castles and Gorge de Galamus.

Moulin Saint Pierre, 66170 Millas
Tel: 00 33 (0)468571944
http://www.moulin-saint-pierre.com

 

Here’s Jordi. We first set eyes on him at Maison Quinta in Perpignan and it was love at first sight.

His official colours are Grenadine (pomegranate), but he also reminds us of the gold and red of the Catalan flag that you see everywhere from town halls, to car stickers to road signs. Now our villa mascot, Jordi  enjoys the seat of honour in our living room where he’s responsible for bringing good luck and driving away bad weather.

Why Jordi? That’s easy. St Jordi (Saint George) is the patron saint of Catalonia. Then there’s Jordi Barre, the most famous Catalan singer of the Eastern Pyrenees region who was born in Argelès ninety years ago this year. And of course it’s no accident that Dutch football star Johan Cruyff named his son Jordi in honour of his adopted city of Barcelona.

You can find more brightly coloured teddy bears like Jordi at Maison Quinta, 3 Rue Grande des Fabriques, Perpignan
http://www.maison-quinta.com

Breakfast. It’s probably the most important meal of the day. Get the right mix of coffee, hot milk and fresh bed and the day is your oyster. Get it wrong and it could be another three hours before you can find an excuse to refuel again.

We’ve been waiting for a really good breakfast café to open up near Fourques and we think we’ve finally found one in Terrats, about five minutes drive away.

Opening its doors in summer 2010, L’Antre Potes (A Place for Pals), used to be a smokey sports cafe and tabacconist.

Under stylish new management from the enthusiastic Agnès it now offers coffee, tea, local snacks and a lunchtime and evening menu if you’re still feeling peckish later on in the day.

Like all good refurbishments, L’Antre Potes still attracts steady business from the people of Terrats. Last Thursday a large team of workers from the local vineyards were on the terrace taking a well-earned break with a round of panachés (lager-shandies). It was only 11 o o’clock but since most of them had been picking grapes since daybreak, the refreshment was well deserved.

L’Antre Potes, Place St Julien, Terrats

There are plenty of cities that claim to be the centre of the universe, but Perpignan enjoys the noteworthy endorsement of Salvador Dali. In 1963 the surrealist artist famously christened Perpignan railway station ‘le centre du monde’, a phrase that’s loudly commemorated in writing above one of the platforms, and by most residents if you give them half a chance to boast about their city.

To be fair, they’ve got a point. Perpignan is like a distilled, double-strength version of Barcelona, full of the sights, sounds and smells of its big brother to the south, but less crowded and just as authentic. The old quarter, Saint Jean, is the perfect example: a largely pedestrianised zone where  you can wander round an undulating labyrinth of alleys and squares for hours, tripping into traditional craft shops, dozens of coffee and tea shops, and fast growing clusters of small designer fashion stores.

Perpignan: a beautiful maze of colour, sound and scents

The city is also a great place to start experiencing the sweet and sour flavour of Roussillon. When you order lunch or talk to the shop keepers, listen out for the local accent with its strong Iberian tang. Sadly, the number of Catalan speakers is far smaller than south of the Spanish border, but locals still manage to convey their mixed allegiance to the French Republic and their fiercely independent origins in conversation and through the bright red and gold Catalan colours that drape the city.

If you’re visiting by car, try and park underneath the Place Arago to the west of the old town. Then take a walk along La Basse, a river that brings you to the Castillet (turret) de Notre Dame, a miniature castle that marks the entrance to the Saint Jean District. If you need to refuel, take a seat outside Taverne Maître Kanter and order the mussels, taking care to ask for plenty of bread to mop up the white wine sauce at the bottom of the pot.

Alfresco dining at the Taverne Maitre Kanter

When you’re back on your feet, walk through the Porte (gate) de Notre Dame and start wandering, with eyes (and ears) wide open. From then on you’re pretty much your own guide, but it’s definitely worth a visit to see the brightly coloured Catalan fabrics at La Maison Quinta as well as the Cathedral of Saint Jean La Baptiste. Then wander due south and you’ll come to the Place de la Republique.

From here you can take your pick of any number of side streets, but it’s always worth giving Rue de L’Ange a visit (via Rue Quéya) where you should stop for an aromatic tea at Paradis Fouillis, which doubles as a second hand furniture store. Then continue south to the vast Palais des Rois de Mallorca, or go directly back to the Place Arago. Of course, whatever you choose to do, take your time. This is the centre of the universe, after all.

Catalan colours: A crockery rainbow for sale at the Maison Quinta

It takes a lot to get me excited about fabrics, just ask my better half.

But Maison Quinta changed all that today.

This four story  town house in the old quarter of Perpignan is home to Les Toiles du Soleil (the cloth of the sun), a weaving business that’s been supplying brightly coloured cotton and linen for to home makers and interior designers for more than one hundred years.

Take the stairs to the third floor where you’ll find a team of seamstresses carefully stitching table cloths, napkins, curtains, soft toys and more from fabric woven at one of the last functioning Catalan textile factories at Saint Laurent de Cerdans near to the Spanish border in the eastern Pyrenees.

The workshop atmosphere oozes charm, but don’t be deceived.

The technicolour teddy bears and children’s aprons might look cute, but this is a smart, global business with outlets in Paris, Tokyo and New York. Yet somehow it still keeps its thrifty Catalan atmposphere.

On the fourth floor we stepped out onto the terrace past a fast talking ladies of a certain age making appointments and setting targets in old school notebooks (no laptops here).

In between revenue forecasts they found time to bring us huge pots of Saharan tea and succulent pecan and praline pie. Magnificent and not to be missed.

You can find Les Toiles de Soleil on the third floor of Maison Quinta on 3, rue Grande Des Fabriques, 66000 Perpignan

Tel +33 (0)468 34 41 62

Email: maison.quinta@ wanadoo.fr

Website: http://www.toiles-du-soleil.com, http://www.lestoilesdusoleilnyc.com (English)

We’ve just received a lovely review from a couple who stayed at the start of the summer. They had a great time in spite of a rare spell of bad weather. It’s good reading for anyone who wants to know about local attractions (apart from the pool and the beaches).

We spent a week at the villa in the middle of June. Unfortunately we were not blessed with the weather, it rained for the first 2 days and we had gale force winds for the last 3 days. Obviously this is out of the ordinary for this time of the year, however, it did not spoil our stay.

We were pleasantly surprised at the sheer size of the villa, how well equipped it is and the overall presentation. The kitchen has everything you will need, there is a tv, wifi, dvd’s etc. The garden is exceptionally well presented, equipped with large tables and chairs, sun loungers etc. The pool is excellent and despite the weather, we still managed to use it a number of times. The gas bbq was used most evenings, even when it was raining we could fire it up under the sun shade.

The location of the villa is off the beaten track, if you are looking for somewhere peaceful this is the ideal place. The village has a small bakers and butchers, ideal for getting fresh foods daily. There is also a well stocked supermarket approx 10 minutes away. The local wine caves sell some excellent wines and they were always very welcoming and keen to let us taste the various types.

There are many things to do in this region whether it is a city visit to Perpignan, a visit to one of the many beaches, a drive into the Pyrenees or white water rafting. There are lots of leaflets in the villa giving details of various different things to do.

Overall, we had a fantastic time in Fourques, we loved the villa, the peace and quiet that it offered, we loved exploring the region and sampling the wines, olives and oils etc and we enjoyed cooking lots of seafood sourced locally. I would have no hesitation in staying at this villa again, it was excellent.

I got a message from a work colleague about some of the great local wines down at Collioure – one of nearest wine growing regions adjacent to Roussillon-Villages. Here are his tips:

Re Collioure – I first came across wines from there at the London International Wine Festival that I blagged my way into.

I tasted one and was really impressed but wasn’t sure if that was because I’d had a few glasses. So I went on the hunt to find another.

Waitrose claimed to have one but it was never in the Finchley Road store so I went to Berry Bros. Had to sprint down before they close at 6pm and got this one.

I really liked it.

Here’s their blog – http://coumedelmas.blogspot.com/

This is the Marks and Spencer one that first caught my attention at the show. Not that I’ve ever seen it in my local M&S either.

So you might need to hunt hard for a bottle, in the UK or Germany (but you’ll find them heaving on every shelf in the area around the villa).

We’re putting together some new photographs based on the work that we did on the garden and the pool over the winter. The visitors are enjoying them already and we wanted you to get a taste of the new surroundings.

We like to think we’ve found the right balance between a private house and the kind of facilities you get at a good hotel. At half the price of course.

This is a picture of the new pool furniture and tiling.  We replaced the crazy paving for something a bit classier. We also invested a little extra for an anti-slip finish for everyone’s benefit. Hope you like the new rattan furniture too.