Pyrenees vacation - Banyuls sur Mer (culture)

We had one last day on our hiking/relaxing vacation in the Pyrenees and Banyuls sur Mer.  The weather got a little colder and windier, so we simply decided to explore the town a bit.

A French navy/coast guard ship was anchored just offshore, and a surfer was taking advantage of the wind/waves:

We walked to the Church La Rectorie, built in the 12 century (Romanesque).
From what we read, the bell tower with three bells is somewhat unique. 

Right next to the church is the oldest cemetery in town, with family crypts (some old, some newer):

As it turned out, a small festival was starting in town.  This band started entertaining in the afternoon.  Notice how Spanish the traditional costumes appear -- we are very close to the border after all!

The music played was also quite "Spanish".  (The stage in the background was being set up for later concerts).

The performers were compete hams - and of course the crowd loved it.  Notice the jackets and scarves and body language... the weather had definitely turned and was no longer Summer.  We had our fleeces on.

After a brief listen, we headed back to the waterfront one last time for a glass of Banyuls.  All of the beach cafes brought the plastic sheets down to keep out the wind and light rain, but the view was still nice.

After dark, we found a pizza restaurant that looked promising:

The "cave" was small and comfy, and the pizza quite good.  (With another glass of Banyuls, too.)

As we walked back to the hotel for the last time, the small festival was still going stong.

It was a great way to end the vacation, and we can clearly recommend Banyuls for a Mediterranean getaway.

Pyrenees vacation - Banyuls sur Mer (aquarium)

After four days of hiking through the Pyrenees, Frau A and I got to relax in Banyuls sur Mer, France.  Since it lies right on the Mediterranean coast, we spent a lot of time near the water.  We lucked out with great weather:

At one end of the marina is the Banyuls aquarium.  Frau A really loves animals, so we had to see it. 

The aquarium is run by the biology and land ecology department of Paris IV University.  They also maintain an "underwater trail" in the sea that you can snorkel through, but it was already closed for the year (October).

The aquarium houses "local" (Mediterranean) water life:  fish, octopi, coral, sea horses... here are anenome:

The aquarium put special lights on this guy and he seemed to glow:

He had a friend nearby too:

Other anenome also had cool colors:

It was challenging snapping photos of fish:  moving fast, through glass, little light.  But we got a few:

This octopus was pretty social.  He was quite active when we hung around his enclosure a while:

The Mediterranean lobster is very different from the Atlantic kind I'm used to -- no claws!

These were probably the most interesting fish - sorry, forgot to write down the species (darn).

This tank was cloudy, but we caught a small ray and two moray eels in the same frame:

In that same tank were some larger fish.  This one poked his nose right at us.  You can see the moray, ray, and another fish in the background.  There was a lot of action, in what was probably the largest tank there.

The spotted ray reminded us of the ones we saw in the Maldives a year before.

Here is our in-your-face friend again!

In another tank, this angler fish was perfectly still, but did twitch his "fishing pole" every once in a while.

The rock fish also has an interesting bodym and stays very still the entire time.

In a small tank near the exit were a bunch of sea horses, swimming through a seaweed forest.  Really nice.

This was probably the most popular tank, with people just mesmerized by these little guys.

The aquarium was a nice, short diversion in town.  We headed back outside into the sun after maybe 1.5 hours (it's not very large) but hope to go diving/snorkeling around here on a future vacation.

Pyrenees vacation - Banyuls sur Mer (winery)

After Frau A and I finished the Pyrenean hiking part of our vacation (See here for days 1, 2, 3, and 4), we had a couple of days to explore the cultural side of Banyuls sur Mer, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Being in France, the first thing we looked for was a winery tour.  Naturally, there were plenty of options.  One was particularly interesting:  Cellier des Templiers.  We booked a tour (rarely conducted in English).

The organization consists of 750 winegrowers who formed a coperative in 1950, and then a formal sales and marketing entity in the 1980s.  But what is most interesting is that they cultivate grapes in almost the same manner as the original winegrowers from the 6th century: on terraced land, worked exclusively by hand.

Wine growing history here can be traced through Roman rule and the Middle Ages -- when the Knights Templar improved the organization and processes of agriculture.  The terraces are a legacy of this approach to viticulture. 

The Banyuls region is especially known for fortified, sweet wines (mainly red).  The primnary grape varieties are Grenache Gris (Grenache Noir), Grenache Blanc, and Carignan, with other varieties allowed but seldom used.  

As in making port, alcohol is added to halt the fermentation process while the natural sugar levels are high.
Our tour guide spent quite a bit of time walking us through the process, complete with a wall diagram.

The wine is aged in oak barrels.  It takes a minimum of 10 months for Banyuls AOC (appellation d'origine controlee, French protected designation), and 30 months for Banyuls Grand Cru (a superior designation).

In the photo below, you can see the walkways snaking around the cellar and providing access to the barrel tops.
On top of each is a stopper - testers drop a glass down for a sample, and taste/test the wine periodically.

Different cellars were set aside for different grapes or designations.  This one had the largest (!) barrels:

A unique part of the process for some of the varieties is that they are also aged outside.  (The process is called maderise, after Madiera wine which also involves outside heating and oxidation of the wine.)

We went from the top of the cellar, to the outside aging area, and back inside on the lower level of a cellar:

The tour guide paused a bit... she obviously loved being there.  It was cool, quiet, and smelled great!

This was the single largest barrel in the cellar (below):  over 1000 hl.

We ended the tour with some tasting, and of course purchased some that we liked best.  Oddly, I preferred the "regular" Banyuls to the Grand Cru.  The Banyuls' fortified/sweet wines are a great change of pace to the Italian reds that we typically have with dinner.  Definitely recommended.

Ther are other wineries, of course, but this had the best combination of size, history, and "brand name".  As you'll see in forthcoming posts, we moved on to the Mediterranean acquarium and a walk around town...

Pyrenees vacation - Banyuls sur Mer (beach)

On the fourth day of hiking in the Pyrenees, we went way out of our way (and still firmly believe the travel company's directions are at fault!).  So rather than 5 hours, 600m ascent, and 12km... we went 10 hours, 1200m ascent, and almost 25km... finally arriving at Ceret, France.

According to the travel itinerary, we had one more day of hiking to go, from Ceret to the Mediterranean coast.  However, after Day 4, Frau A was beat.  And since we had left the taller Pyrenees and were now in the foothills heading towards the sea, we decided to just take a short taxi to our final destination, Banyuls sur Mer.  So our hiking/hitchhiking/taxi path, in the end, looked something like this:

The weather continued to be great, and when we arrived at the hotel this was the view over town:

Above, you can see their small, crescent-shaped beach.  Of course we headed straight there.

Below is the view in the opposite direction, from the beach back towards the hotel (taken later in the day -- you can see the moon already visible in the sky at dusk):

The view from the hotel towards town was just as nice in the evening, with town lights against the Pyrenees foothills.  Banyuls is large enough to have plenty to do, but still small and comfortable.

The walk along the water towards the beach is nice.  This mosaic (picture below) was just outside the tourist office.  There were also dive shops, boat rentals and tours, and small tourist shops of course.  Unfortunately, since this was early October, many dive shops were closed -- or you had to call for them to come in.  We decided to stick with the plan and hit the beach.

While at the beach, I went for a swim.  Frau A stayed in the warm sun (the water was pretty cold!).  She snapped this photo with my head just above the water (towards the right of the frame).  In addition to the houses in the background, you can see a small terraced vinyard.  More on these in a future post.

This bridge/wall was one border of the beach -- you can see it from our hotel photo too.  The bricks are built around the rock foundation, and give way to the last tip of land forming the inlet.  I walked along this to dry off.

After drying off and warming up again, we decided to relax with some miniature golf!  It is vacation, after all.  We don't love the concrete "greens" but the view with the Mediterranean in the background was great.

At this point, I was in the lead... but Frau A came back and conquered me in the end.  Ugh!

Our deal was that the loser buys ice cream -- so I treated, and we indulged at one of the stands along the beach.  We both tried chocolate, but my second scoop was hazelnut, Frau A's was mint chip:

Ironically, we saw the sign in town marking one end of the major GR 10 hiking path through the Pyrenees.  If only the directions from the travel company were as well marked as this!

As luck would have it, this was the last day of beach-weather that year (this was early October 2011).  The next day, the weather turned blustery -- colder and with strong winds.  We were fortunate to have one good day on the sand.

We had two more days in Banyuls after 4 days of hiking and one on the beach, and there were plenty of things to keep us entertained yet relaxed... (details coming soon in more posts soon)