Discounts: 14 days: 15%, 21 days: 33% Our house is located in the tranquil medieval village of Palalda, near the border between France and Spain. The village dates back to Roman times and is built on a hillside overlooking the valley of the Tech River and the oak forested slopes of the Pyrenees. In the morning and the evening the sky above our house is filled with swallows darting and diving, and the only sounds you will hear are their calls and the rushing of the river in the valley below. Palalda, like the rest of Roussillon, has a strong Catalan character to it, and you are just as likely to hear Catalan spoken in the street as French.

Our house is a recently restored old village house with all the charm of old stone walls and oak beamed ceilings combined with modern conveniences and comforts. There is a large shaded terrace and garden with a magnificent view over the river and the mountains. The open plan kitchen/dining room with its stainless steel appliances, central cooking island, gas stove and large oak dining table will inspire you to culinary experimentation with all of the wonderful local French ingredients available to you (for example: cherries from Ceret; apricots from Roussillon; the anchovies of Coullioure). A large living room enjoys 18 foot high ceilings and exposed stone walls. The large downstairs bedroom is quiet and cool in the heat of summer. The main floor bedroom has twin beds and a Juliet balcony with a view of the valley.

Our house faces south and receives sun all day long. The Tech valley is one of the sunniest in all of France (300+ days of sunshine per year).

Palalda, with about 300 permanent residents, is one of only a handful of medieval villages remaining in Roussillon. Access through the village and to our house is by foot only as vehicles cannot enter the narrow and steep alleys and passageways of the village. In the village you will find (starting summer 2022) an art museum, cafe, a bakery depot and a small grocery store.. A weekly summer market is held in the town square, below the 10th century church (Sundays). The town square is also the venue for parties and concerts hosted by the cafe throughout the summer months.

In the neighbouring town of Amelie les Bains (a 19th C. spa town, 2 kms away) you will find restaurants, cafes, banks and more shops. The spa here dates back to Roman times and is still in operation.

Palalda is situated at the foot of the Canigou Massif, an 8,000 ft mountain of ancient symbolic significance to the Catalan people. Most of the vast area surrounding this mountain is national park or forest reserve and it is not uncommon, while wandering in these mountains, to see wild boar, eagles or Pyreneen chamois or to come across the remains of a Roman iron mine or the site of a legendary battle of the French Resistance.

For lovers of the outdoors, Palalda is an ideal location. Within minutes of the village you have access to hundreds of kilometers of hiking and mountain biking trails, some of them dating back to the Middle Ages, and all of them well marked and maintained. (Mountain bike rentals are available in nearby Arles sur Tech, 5 kms away). During the summer, swimming is fine in the rocky pools found along the valley of the Tech River. And of course the Mediterranean beaches are only 40 minutes away by car.

There are many cultural and historical attractions as well. The Museum of Modern Art in Ceret (7 kms away), founded in the 1920s by Pablo Picasso and friends is a must-see. Ceret itself is a very pleasant town with its plane tree shaded boulevard and outdoor cafes. Across the border in Figueres, Spain (one hour by car) is the Dali Museum (and if you need more Dali you can also visit his house at Port Lligat on the Costa Brava (about 2 hours by car) or the castle he bought for his beloved wife Gala at Pubol, near Gerona (about 1 1/2 hrs by car). The French Catalan fishing town of Coullioure is a great destination for a visit to its Palais Royale and curious seaside church, and lunch in one of its many fine restaurants. For a more urban experience, the city of Perpignan (40 minutes away by car), once the capital of the Catalan Kingdom of Majorca, is like a smaller and more accessible version of Barcelona (or you could just go to Barcelona, 2 hours away by car).

History buffs may want to start with the museum at the European Centre for Prehistory at Tautavel (1 1/2 hours away by car) and its 450,000 years of history and follow up with a tour of the 17th C. fortresses built by Vauban at Mont Louis and Villefranche de Conflent (UNESCO World Heritage Sites) (2 hours away by car).

Our unique proximity to Spain offers other interesting possibilities, such as breakfast in France and lunch in Spain. Travelling up the valley will lead you to the Catalan Spanish mountain villages, and down the valley to the beach resorts of the Costa Brava.

Or you may just want to sit on the terrace, open a bottle of Cotes de Roussillon Villages wine and watch the sun travel across the sky.

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