A wintry walk by the Rhône

 Hello!

 Probably the thing I fell most in love with during my time in Avignon was the river. Wherever I live, I like to be near some great force of nature - often it's the sea or mountains. 

 Avignon's stretch of the Rhône first called to me in summer, when it was, as I describe it in my poem "Barthelasse", "soupy and green". Through autumn it glimmered like a sapphire and now, with winter slipping in, it was dark and majestic.

 Through every season, I just loved being near it - in fact, I felt I had to be near it on a regular basis. Sitting or standing by its side brought a kind of calm and purity to my mind, and in my busy life that was very useful to have. 

 The Rhône also moved me creatively - as well as "Barthelasse" and several other poems, I wrote a fiction piece entitled "The moon and river", which was inspired by the night of the supermoon and was published on Visual Verse.

 Here are some photos from a winter's evening when I bought a crepe in town and then took the now-familiar route down to the riverside. Night was coming in and it was an intense and magical time.

The Pont d'Avignon in the twilight. I came to love that bridge more than I ever imagined I could. It has real presence and character

 The last few are like an ink blot test, and I can see a Christmas tree, which is surely a positive thing (as long as it isn't real - I am a supporter of using fake trees). The festive season was well on its way, and experiencing it in Avignon promised to be fun.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Céret

 Hello!

 Céret, the cherry capital of France, which is not far from Perpignan, had been on my radar for a long time. When I did go, it was pretty unexpected.

 Rebekah, another English Assistant, and I fancied exploring somewhere in the department together. We decided to meet at the Centre of the Universe (Perpignan Railway Station) and pick a destination. 

 After a lot of deliberating we chose Céret. Rather than go by train we elected to go by the famous 1 Euro Bus.

 The sky was moody and the hills dark as we cruised through the countryside of the Pyrérées-Orientales. It was very atmospheric. We got off at the wrong stop, realised, jumped back on the bus before it left us there - phew - and got off at the next one, the right one.

 The right stop still wasn't exactly in the town centre so we had to pick a road and hope it was the right one. Fortunately it was and we found ourselves in the middle of Céret. 

 The first place we visited was a patisserie - of course! Followers of this blog will know how much I love taking pictures of bakery and patisserie displays.

 We left and wandered up the street. I had absolutely no idea what was in Céret apart from cherries when they were in season which wasn't now, so I was going in completely blind and it was quite fun. In such a small village it was impossible to get badly lost.

 We found ourselves at the Museum/Gallery of Modern Art and decided to take a look. I was greatly impressed by the large volume of works by Picasso - I hadn't known he had lived in Céret and that the town was so important to him. I was also delighted to see works by Miro and Juan Gris.

We did this at school in Art - I had no idea it was here!

 After we left the gallery my camera battery ran out so I switched to my phone. The images are slightly less clear but I think it happens to add to the ambience in Céret that day. It was quietly overcast, with a mysterious feel, like a storm was coming and the town was waiting.

 We found a public music box stand which Rebekah loved. Melodies included the Star Wars theme, Yesterday and "Greensleaves".

 We encountered a beautiful fountain designed by Picasso. I was enchanted by it - it will definitely feature in one of my novels some day.

 We explored a bit and saw the famous Devil's Bridge as well as a nice carved lion some pretty but slightly spooky skies.

 I bought some postcards and we made our way back down the hill to the bus stop. Dusk was coming and the sky was really eerie. I did my best to capture it on my phone camera. The atmosphere was really crackling - I wonder if a storm broke after we left.

 We hopped back onto the bus and rolled back home to Perpignan. It was a good day; I enjoyed spending some time with Rebekah and am glad I made time to see Céret. 

 The art gallery was interesting and the town quite quaint but what I remember most about that day is the bizarre atmosphere: the colours in the sky and the tension in the air. It was a weird and therefore unique day out.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x