Port Vendres – The other South
of France Written and Photographed by Simon Newman
Perfect bronzed torsos roller-blading the promenade at Nice,
paparazzi snapping wannabes at Cannes, idyllic Provençeal
villas covered in bougainvillea, and of course the South of France
wouldn’t be the same without some long-faded starlet campaigning
for the rights of disadvantaged dolphins.
The traditional imagery of this region is endlessly clichéd
in such stereotypes, but France’s southern coastline is
over 400 miles long and at its western end, where the Pyrenees
meet the Mediterranean, is the characterful fishing harbour of
Port Vendres.
It’s not glitzy, it’s not trendy and it’s not
the place to be seen, but it is beautiful. Port Vendres lies a
few miles from the Spanish border and by accident or design it
seems to have the balance of genuine commercial life and tourism
just right. Much as I’d like to credit foresight on behalf
of the town fathers, you get the distinct feeling walking around
this fascinating old port that it found its very agreeable equilibrium
by a natural organic process rather than through some municipal
development plan.
Flanked by Pyrenees on three sides, this beautiful natural harbour
has presence and integrity in spades. The fishermen’s cottages
(and OK, some are now owned by Danes and Belgians but local fishermen
really do live there too) radiate a blaze of Mediterranean hues
which somehow both clash and work at the same time.
Port Vendres is an important harbour where serious commercial
vessels and the odd smaller cruise ship can moor at the functionally
impressive Gare Maritime. It is certainly an entertainment to
stand on the dock and watch a 300 footer daintily pirouetting
around its anchor chain whilst being nudged and worried into position
by the port’s diminutive but furiously energetic pilot boat.
You can eat and drink overlooking the harbour although there
is a road which bisects you from the sea so you have to accept
the odd buzz from a passing scooter. This is after all Catalunya
and although still very much French, the bustling atmosphere on
a summer weekend gives more than a passing nod to the altogether
more noisier and frenetic atmosphere prevailing in its close Iberian
neighbour.
There is an impressive church which stands guard over the fishing
and diving boats at the Vieux Port at the harbour’s northern
end. With its inset statues of Saints it is rather plain with
the odd Gothic hint, but it’s painted a subtle coral colour
and is topped-off by a truly beautiful, almost Islamic, blue dome.
A strange thing is that much as you search around the entrance
and the sides of the building you cannot find the church’s
name anywhere.
Engaging in a little conversation with a Gendarme, who at the
time was enthusiastically cordoning off an area with red chequered
tape for a visiting dignitary produced a result. "C’est
La Notre Dame de Bonne Nouvelle, m’sieur" and went
on to tell me that the church was presided over by a part-time
roving priest (or was that a rowing priest?) based at Collioure
a couple of miles up the coast. Our Lady of Good News is a pleasingly
fitting name for this welcoming town and it’s a name shared
by the port’s lifeboat run by the imperiously named Société
Nationale de Sauvetage de la Mer. I’ve always found it mystifying
that something so important to the community as saving lives at
sea is invariably funded by charity, in this case by the local
Rotary Club, but it seems to be a pretty universal phenomenon.
Buying fish here is a delight, but you do need to set aside an
hour or so to appreciate the Port Vendres fish-market, as to rush
it would be an entertainment opportunity wasted. At the market’s
entrance there is an outside stall where dozens of people elbow
and jockey for a position to survey today’s catch. And what
a display; fresh langoustines, anchovies, calamares, seabream,
and of course the quintessentially French staple, the ubiquitous
moule. It looks chaotic but a well enforced numbered ticketing
system operates efficiently so you are never left trying in vain
to catch the attention of the ebullient fishmonger, a swarthy,
piratical character with a definite twinkle in his eye. Just the
one in his case, on the left, the other being rather jauntily
patched.
But the real treat is inside. Tank after tank of live creatures
- ferocious looking eels, rays, crustaceans with more antennae
than a NASA Mars probe, and crabs the size of dinner plates –
which is quite handy when you come to think about it. Young children
are in raptures at the sight of these fearsome creatures, peeping
through their fingers, backing away with squeals of delight, but
always returning for more.
The market also boasts a cooked fish counter plus a deli section
to die for – try their wood-smoked salmon fillets, heavily
peppered and steeped in local herbs, best eaten with a fresh baguette
generously laden with salted butter. Oh for goodness sake, you
didn’t even know what cholesterol was ten years ago. Wash
it down with a chilled glass or three of deliciously crisp, apples
and honey, Côte du Roussillon Blanc de Blancs Terrassous.
Absolute heaven.
Aside from its maritime heritage the town of Port Vendres has
a serious artistic provenance. The light in this region is amazingly
vibrant and has attracted legions of painters over the last century
and a half; Matisse, Picasso, Macintosh and Dali to name but a
few.
Characterful, welcoming Port Vendres is a true delight. Some of
its charms are not immediately obvious, but the rewards of wandering
around to discover them really are worth the effort.
Simon Newman is
a freelance travel and features writer living in Catalunya,
close to the French/Spanish border. "I love straddling
two cultures. My passion is in people and the way they relate
to the world as they see it. Human fragility and eccentricity
provide eternal colour to my canvas. For me, it's what makes
life interesting."
