The coast between France and Spain

BANYULS sur le MER -- What a drive from Collioure, where we spent the night last night, to Barcelona. The winding roads through the mountains connected quaint seaside villages, each one more picturesque than the next. This is France's answer to Cinque Terre in Italy, although the towns are further apart and the views only slightly less dramatic.

The beaches leave a little to be desired by our island standards, but we all noted how much recreation and activities the French can cram into a small stretch of greyish sand . It's the high season here, too, so the beaches, restaurants and well maintained streets and plazas are all crowded. One would guess these towns are quite different in the winter, returning to their roots as fishing villages and artist enclaves (in fact Collioure has a very colorful - pun intended - artistic past as Matisse spent a lot of time here and did some of his best work inspired by the dramatic scenery).

I am on the verge of culture overload and we still have Barcelona ahead of us.