Day 570 Figueres, Spain
Off to Perpignan via El Volo (aka Le Boulou)
At 9 am we depart the excellent Hotel Duran in Figueres. (Both hôtel and restaurant highly recommended.) Now we await the Teisa bus that will (hopefully) take us to El Voló, aka Le Boulou (in France). This part of the world has changed hands with France and Spain so many times it must feel like a carnival shell game, never mind previous encounters with Visigoths, Romans and Moors.
Once we make it to Le Boulou the plan is to take a taxi to Perpignan and pick up our train there and make it to Lyon. Last I read, the fire that’s caused all the trouble is now under control, but the railway is still closed.
If the bus gets us to El Volo, we will need to find a taxi to Perpignan then catch the train to Lyon. But almost nothing works out. Here's the short version:
-- Take the bus -- Dropped off in El Volo on the street - no bus station; completely lost.
-- Find a taxi garage and one driver. "Taxie, a Perpignan?” I ask, in the little bit of French I can manage. The stout driver lights up a cigarette. He could grow a full beard in five minutes. “Now?" He asks, appalled. “Si — I mean Oui”. He shakes his head as though this is the craziest idea he's ever heard. It's lunch time. He walks away.
-- Cyn guards the bags. I reach out to the red-headed short order cook at the Brasserie Le Rallye across the street. He helps us get a taxi. It takes even him three tries and he speaks French. Taxi will be there in 30 minutes.
-- Taxi shows up a half hour late. Will we make the 1:04 train from Perpignan to Lyon?
-- No, we miss the train. What else can go wrong. I'm about to find out ...
-- Frantically check next train to Lyon. Forget it, they're all booked. How about tomorrow? No, a strike is planned. All trains to Lyons will be cancelled. I consider a primal scream. Except ...
-- One train departs at 6:15 am the next morning. It will get us in under the strike.
-- Oui!!!!
-- Cyn locates the Hotel Paris-Barcelone, the same hotel that we had booked two days earlier. They give us a little discount; we have a place to stay in Perpignan.
-- Haul the bags to the hotel and finish the day with a lovely walk and dinner at the VIP Restaurant which sits at the base of Castillet—a 14th-century crenellated fort that once defended the town's principal gate—now a museum.
-- During the walk to the restaurant Cyn insists she get a picture of me and while she does a cluster of visitors walk by and join in, then, laughing, move on. Check the guy out on the right. Love that guy's sense of humor!
Recommendations
If you are planning travel to Catalonia, you might want consider some of these recommendations. You can find more recommendations here.
Celler de Ca la Teta was the foundation for what Duran Hotel & Restaurant is today: a family-run hotel is true to its roots. This history, the stories that have accumulated over the years, the visitors and the decorative pieces they’ve given the establishment are what make Duran what it is now: a hotel, a restaurant and a little museum of the history of Figueres.
Duran Hotel & Restaurant is the most emblematic hotel in the area, with a long history and renowned prestige, it is also the perfect choice to enjoy a stay in Figueres: in the old town and shopping area, just steps from important buildings like the Museum Dalí and Museu del Joguet de Catalunya.”