Barcares, 12 hours Jaunt by Car

Before summer vacation start, a road trip to France for me and my partner has to conquer. A 12 hours of jaunting from Brussels to Barcares, is now on our list to fulfill.

I never had a chance to visit the Pyrénées-Orientales a place where surrounded by Spanish influence. situated near the Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea.

On the Road of France

Barcares, France

Barcares is known as a place for pensioners and “vacationistas” to stay and savor the Catalan ambiance. Among its notorious activities offered are Waterskiing & Jetskiing and other Water Sports , Electrobeach Festival, Kayaking & Canoeing as well as Boat Tours nd Boat Rentals.

Geeks do Travel

We have received an invitation sent to us by a couple from the Southern France in Barcares. A french couple whom my husband knew from a game called “Diablo 3“.

The story of their friendship begun, thanks to Blizzard’s online game. After couple of months they have officially invited us to come over and lodge in their residence. I straightly become excited since it’ll be my first time to travel and explore the Pyrenees empire.

Our Companion

The day came, and I must prepare all the important things that I must bring.

A 5 days trip consider as a slight vacation/sightseeing/enjoy and have fun time for us before the grand summer vacation. As part of my preparation, I always bring those essential ones especially on road trips.

So I review and read my post once more, it’ll be my guide every time we travel.

Travel Tips, Things to bring while travelling by car

Suddenly an idea came to us to bring our little baby named “Pachimari” a radish/octopus/onion stuff toy from our common game Overwatch.

I have seen a bunch of photos on instagram with this little fellow.

It became instantaneously famous after the success of the online game.

So we decided distinctively to bring it with us, so here he is sitting on th backseat waiting for our driver. Heading to in laws house to save some hours of travel til south of France.

France, Here we go!

The day before the big day, we went to do some groceries for our 12 hours trip, vital thing is to have is water of course. Packed some cereal biscuits, no sugar ones and with nuts flavor and some soft drinks in case I’ll get nausea.

It was 7:00 am in the morning, the sun was about to rise and we were heretofore on the road. Woke up 5:00 am to get ready for the day.

At last we launched the engine and “c’est parti” it’s on!

First stop is to gas up in Luxembourg, a place known for its superb prices of gasoline. It only cost 90 cents for a liter, superb right?

Its time to take the main road and push the accelerator. It was about 3 hours after our departure, traffic jam astonished us. with some big trucks on our right and cars in front.

Feeling as the heat of the sun, the ambiance with traffic jam getting much more hotter, listening to the radio for traffic info.

Route to Lyon was in real crunch, accidents were announced, roads were forcibly disrupted and deviation pavements were on.

Luckily Pachimari was there to cut the negative atmosphere, especially its sound “squink squink” when you push its head.

Almost there!

Finally succeeding out from the traffic, we took the other pathway to get some pause for lunch. A classic fash food chain in French land, I ordered some rice and fish but didn’t really enjoyed that much.

Continuing our junket, next bad news was another accident occurred between Lyon and Valence therefore we need to take the Marseille direction.

apperceiving the huge castle/monument on our left, I didn’t was really know what  is it til I search online and its the Fortress of Mornas near Avignon.

Continuing our journey, while my partner is busy driving I was also busy on my nest reading my manga (One Piece) trying to catch up the latest episode issue last week. Other than that I’m tranquil sleeping or singing with my favourite music playlist.

Barcares the Pyrénées-Orientales

Beyond any doubt I can say we are in Barcares after many hours, time check its 7:00 pm just in the environs. Heading to our hosts residence. The place was incredibly beautiful, ocean’s breezy air and the smell of the Catalan culture is imperious.

There were houses with nice allure on the other city, It’s like a mountain with full of beautiful houses piled together.

Jeremy welcomed us to their place, apparently his fiancée Céline was still working that time. He made us a lovely tour inside and outside of their house, they have plenty of cats around it really bells the ambiance.

The Belle Vue

A house key was given to us, the flat that we’ll be occupying is located in the second floor. Organizing our bags and stuffs inside the flat, I noticed the balcony and discovered this unbelievable glimpse. Pachimari was contented as much as I am, you can see he is always smiling (haha).

Meanwhile in the balcony I got to take some stunning photos before the sunset. I saw some jetskis, yachts, and a bunch of small boats in the port. I can truly say now that we are in the Port of Barcares in southern France.

Later at night Céline arrived from her work, and came to greet and welcome us once again. It’s actually our first time to see each other, I haven’t seen them in the past neither did my husband.

Feeling lucky that we were invited by this charming couple, I felt like we knew each other since a long time and we chatted and chatted til late night later diner time came.

They’ve prepared a  homemade barbecue in the terrace as an affectionate gest towards us. We enjoyed our diner and get to see the spectacular sunset, we planned to get to visit the small town tomorrow and stroll a bit.

The next day

Early in the morning, my eyes were sparkling while watching our view from the bedroom and balcony, Its my first time to get experience another side of vacation.

A breakfast served by the delightful couple, we were well treated just like as part of their family. They have mentioned one time that the flat is actually a place where people come to rent in summer. They charge 700-1,000 euros a week during high seasonal period.

Greatful and pleased of the place, we even went to the market with Jeremy. I was surprise, the prices of clothes and other stuffs are really cheap. I kinda regret not bringing my camera that time, I would’ve grab it with me.

Strolling on the ally, I saw some older couples around or shall I say pensioners. There were older people than young ones, our day wasn’t that busy that much we came back to the house directly after the brief visit.

The guys (Jeremy and my hubby) were busy with their Diablo 3 game and me, busy with my laptop for updating online.

Wandering in the Beach

Later that day, we were in the mood to visit the other corner of Barcares. It was already late in the afternoon, Our host invited us for a quick swim at their home-made jacuzzi/swimming pool at home.

But before that, we’ve decided to have a short visit to the beach and see how beautiful the beach is.

Going on our way, we took the same road from the stroll that we had that morning. We also found a shortcut way to the beach. 6:00 pm and it was still clear as 10:00 am in the morning, we’re so lucky to experience this one of a kind weather in southern France.

Arriving at the “playa” it was a wide place of sand with a background of shadows of the mountains.

I find it really amazing! I’ve thought it would be full of people since in our country (Belgium) summer season coastal areas are full of tourists.

No! I’m not gonna swim

The water was so blue/blue marine, it was definitely a wonderful beach where you can swim and relax at the same time. At that moment there weren’t many people swimming. It was a quiet evening with some people just unwinding in the area.

I took off my slippers and directly jump into the water (I didn’t jump, just walk into it). The water was a bit cold but it was crystal clear you can see the stones and sand underneath.

We sat down and relax then after about 20 minutes we went back to our host’s house and took a short swim with our friend. (No! there’s no photo of us with the swimwear haha)

The Sensational Sunset

During our dinner at night, Céline called me to see the sunset in the terrace. It was sublime! the sheer colors were profoundly exceptional.

I was blowned away, just dreamt being in another part of the milky way at that moment. It was the best sunset in France ever!

Follow my next blog post for our visit to Lourdes, a sacred town in southwestern part.

Barcares, France Road trip