Our sunny village house is within 200 metres of the centre of Ceret with it’s many restaurants, galleries and local shops. Ceret has an outdoor swimming pool, petanque and tennis courts, 10 min. drive from a swimming/leisure lake and is within 30 min. drive of the beaches. The area is ideal for hiking and water sports such as diving and windsurfing which are available on the coast. Céret’s Saturday market is a high point of the week and is as much a social event as anything else. It is a bustling, busy market selling mostly local produce. Fresh fruit and vegetable stalls are alongside the wine makers of the region. The olive stall is a “must see” where you can choose from a large range of plain, marinated and dried olives. The local cheese makers sell everything from the delicious fresh cheeses to aged hard cheese cut from large wheels. It is also a great time to sit and people watch at one of the cafe’s.
Ceret hosts many traditional Catalan festivals including the Cherry Festival in May where you can sample such oddities as cherry beer and take part in the cherry stone spitting competition. There is also a Music Festival during the summer and during the height of the season there are weekly musical events in the town.Visit the Ceret tourist information website for more information about events: www.ct-ceret.fr
Céret is famous for it’s Musée d’Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art), which has numerous Picasso paintings, sculptures and ceramics, including the famous bull fighting bowl series. The museum also features paintings by Chagall, Matisse, Herbin, Soutine, and a few Impressionists. The top floor of the Museum hosts touring exhibitions. The museum is open 364 days of the year. The exhibition details can be found on their website www.musee-ceret.com
Céret has a continued tradition of being a home for artists, especially painters and poets. Pablo Picasso spent time in Céret in the early part of the 20th century and Café Pablo in the town is dedicated to him. The Grand Café, still operating today, was a meeting place for many famous artists in the early part of the last century. Henri Matisse and Amadeo Modigliani, amongst other artists, visited at this time. Chaim Soutine, the Russian emigre painter, lived in Céret for a period and painted many landscapes of the village and its surrounds.
The pretty coastal town of Collioure with its beaches, winding streets, galleries and harbour made famous by artists Henri Matisse and Andre Derain is well worth a visit. A little further down the coast is the fishing harbour of Port Vendres where you can buy freshly caught fish either from the quayside or the fish market. The Charles Rennie Mackintosh museum is an interesting visit and is housed in one of the old custom buildings next to the art gallery in Port Vendres.. There are many wonderful coves and beaches just beyond Port Vendres, many with vineyards running down the the sea.
Ceret is only 15 km from the Spanish boarder so it is quite possible to take a day trip to the beaches on the Costa Brava, the Dali Museum at Figueres 30 min and Dali’s house in Cadaques 1 hr 30 mins and visit Barcelona. Dali’s house bottom picture.
For a weekend away please visit the Telegraph site www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/729851/France-Weekend-to-remember.html for an insight into what to expect from a short break in Ceret.