Cadaques.... where do I begin? Home of
Salvador Dali, nestled on the Costa Brava in the foothills of the Pyranees, on the
mer mediterranee at the
most north eastern corner of Spain. Village of artists, wanderers (hippies) and just a two hour drive from Baraelona. When we toured Dali's home, we saw a mirror that he had set up so that he could see the sunrise from his bed. He used to say that he was the first person in all of spain to see the sunrise, given this area's eastern location.
The scenery was breathtaking. Rocky cliffs with the sea below, and all the buildings white washed stucco with accents of Grecian blue. Beaches made not of sand, but of stones smoothed over centuries, speckled with sea glass (or "Treasures!" as Henry came to know it). Vines of fuchsia bougainvillea climbing the walls everywhere. And at Casa Bona, (chez Arielle and Jose), a small vineyard of 30 vines transplanted from Jose's home village in Salamanca, a few olive and lemon trees, and grapes hanging above from one of the patios. Not to mention a gorgeous pool, overlooking the mountains and the sea far below.
The company was warm, welcoming, and casual.
Arielle, an artist, and Jose, a retired architect, have made this second home their
coin de paradis- their corner of paradise. It is well known that the best way to tour anyplace is with a local. Jose's rapid Catalan rolling off his tongue in the market and restaurants, and Arielle's passion for finding the most hidden
creek, or path to a secluded rocky beach, certainly helped us experience this beautiful place like a local.
We were fortunate to have a revolving door of relatives: first cousins Paul and Capucine (and Capu's two friends), later followed by Raphael's grandma Simonne, accompanied by Hugo and his
petite amie, Marion. The last time we saw Hugo was when Henry was only 5 months old! Henry and I both enjoyed practicing our french, as it was most definitely the preferred language of the house.
The weather was uncharacteristically cool and even humid/ rainy on a few days. But we did not mind. We relaxed, we read, we hiked, a lot (and me in flip flops), we swam at the pool and in various
creeks, and we ate. And ate, and ate, and ate. Arielle cooked for us, mostly, but we also enjoyed a few local restaurants, and gelatto in the village (when I could convince everyone to get up and go!). We particularly enjoyed La Sirena, where we had the freshest of fresh fish.
In short, it is no wonder we took over 800 pictures. I managed to cull them down to 400+. I then managed to cull them down to under 200. Here are the two albums, the
long version (444 photos) and the
short version (180 photos). In the long version you'll see much more scenery as well as more photos of family (Paul is so photogenic!) You may also get some kind of error from your computer as the site tries to load all the thumbnails. But if you persevere through the errors, you should have no problem viewing them all.
