Keith woke us up at 8am this morning as he was desperate for a cup of tea! I woke with a horrible headache and made myself a cup of coffee before joining Keith on the terrace. Again, it was a gorgeous morning and the temperature was perfect!
We had a booking to visit Salvador Dali's house in Port Lligat, near Cadaqués, today, so we were ready to go by 9am as it was about an hour's drive from L'Escala. We stopped to fill the tank with petrol on the way, delighted by the cheaper prices than in France! We'll definitely stop again to fill up on our way back on Thursday.
We had a pleasant drive at first, through farmland and small towns. As we neared Roses, the road started to climb. Our next-door neighbours, Vince and Sue, had lived in Roses, and Vince had told me about the road to Cadaqués, which goes over the mountains. He wasn't wrong! The road climbed and climbed, and the views were stunning! Sophie went very quiet in the back of the car! At a lay-by, I stopped to take a couple of photos:
We carried on along the very twisty mountain road, and I took it carefully! Jeeves directed us to Cadaqués but then took us along a rough, very narrow road, and I had no idea where we were! The signs for the house had disappeared, and he kept telling us to park and then walk to our destination!
We came across a beach with boats moored out at sea and turned into a dry and dusty car park. I managed to park under a tree, and we trudged back along the beach to Dali's whitewashed house, which sits right by the sea.
We had a tour time of 11.10am, and the tickets on my phone were exchanged for paper ones. While we waited to be admitted at the correct time, we stored my bag in a locker and bought two bottles of water from the small café. It was, need I say it, fearsomely hot.
Sophie and I also looked around the shop, and I spotted a book called The Secret Life of Dali, which I planned to buy after the tour. Extracts from this personal diary looked most interesting!
At 11.10am, we were admitted and we waited for our little tour party. Our guide was fantastic and switched from Spanish to English, to French with ease. The house was truly beautiful, and we were able to see most of the rooms with all of his and Gala's personal possessions. They had pet swans, which they'd had stuffed and put on show. The guide was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of information about each room.
The interior of the house was blissfully cool, even though we couldn't see any signs of air conditioning. We went into his studio and saw two unfinished paintings. Gala died in 1982, and Dali never returned to the house, living instead at Gala's castle in Pubol.
We also saw two of his reworkings of the famous painting of The Angelus, showing two people praying in a field.
I found the bedroom particularly interesting, and the bathroom, which seemed very basic!
Gala's private quarters were full of stuffed animals and very cosy. The house seemed designed for privacy and comfort, and I can imagine they had a wonderful life together there.
Once the guided part of the tour was over, we could wander about the grounds. There were a lot of steep steps, and the visit certainly isn't suitable for those who are frail or unsteady on their feet.
We came across their swimming pool - it was gorgeous!
 |
| White geraniums complimenting the white buildings |
This part of the house reminded me of the buildings of César Manrique in Lanzarote. I did wonder whether the two of them knew of each other. I could just imagine the parties they had and the fabulous times they had relaxing at the house. It was a haven of peace and tranquility.
We finished our tour and I bought my book, while Sophie treated herself to a bottle of perfume. It was insanely hot now, and we made our way back to the car, stopping at a beach bar on the way for a drink. The heat had made Sophie use her inhaler, and she ordered a Fanta orange as she hadn't had any breakfast - none of us had!
We sat and chatted and decided to head to Cadaqués for lunch. Walking back to the car was like walking into a hair dryer on full blast, and it was lovely to get into the car and switch on the aircon. Everywhere you go, you can hear the whine of the aircon in cars!
We followed a twisty road to Cadaqués and found ourselves on narrow streets. They led down to the harbour area, and at one point, we were on the harbour itself with no barrier between us and the sea! We then became stuck behind a people carrier that had stopped outside a restaurant. I had a van behind me as well, and I should really have sounded my horn to get them to move! A couple of women got out, oblivious to the waiting cars behind them!
Cadaqués was hectically busy with people wandering about the streets, and we decided to leave. We headed back the way we'd arrived, negotiating the twisty mountain roads again. At one point, I pulled over as the car behind me had overtaken the van (still with me) and was bearing down on me. I didn't really want him so close on the hairpin bends!
Unwelcome neighbours
Once the road levelled off, we called into a Lidl and bought food for lunch. The journey back to L'Escala took us through sleepy villages and towns and very rural countryside. Once back at the house, we made lunch (pizza for Sophie and me, chicken for Keith) and relaxed. Unfortunately, we seem to have new neighbours who inflicted their music on us all afternoon, and it was so loud it affected our enjoyment of the pool. The music was cheesy Spanish or 80s songs, and was awful. I felt very angry that a group of people could be so thoughtless and selfish.
While this was going on, our immediate neighbours arrived, a family with teenage sons, and we retreated indoors, feeling so annoyed at the noise that we looked at leaving a day early and renting a house near Narbonne for Wednesday night!
Luckily, at about 7.30pm the music stopped, whether another neighbour had said something or whether the group had gone out for dinner. Peace reigned! Sophie and I played cards, and we ate the leftover pasta from last night with salad.
We have one more day here in the house, and I hope it's a peaceful one!
No comments:
Post a Comment