The South of France is famous for its long sanded beaches, quality life-style, Mediterranean food, Nice, Marseille, the Cannes Festival and much more. Unfortunately I have not yet visited these well-known places, but instead, I have visited a less touristy (or at least for the masses) area of the South of France.
You may have heard of Perpignan, Montpellier, or Narbonne, to name a few of the biggest cities. Then there is Collioure, Canet de Mar, Les Barcares, all beautiful coastal villages, just a few kilometres away from the Spanish border.
As my future mother-in-law moved from rainy Nantes, to tramontana-battered Perpignan back in 2015, I had the pleasure of discover the Roussillon region and its surroundings.
Perpignan
This little French city has a huge Catalan influence. No wonder much of the city plan, the streets, the squares and even the food, reminds me of Barcelona.
Collioure
When I have visited Cathy last September she brought us to this beautiful coastal town which I fell in love with. A typical Mediterranean village with small cobbled streets and lots of flowers hanging out of every terrace and balcony.
15 minutes away from Spain you can reach Collioure from Perpignan in 30 minutes by car. If you can hire a bike or a scooter, even better! This little village on the Mediterranean is one of those places you never want to leave. If you are a seafood lover, this is the place to be ‘aussi’, we had squids, grilled prawns and it is all fresh from the sea..all of that sitting ‘al fresco’ with this kind of view.
And if this is not enough, I have been told a lovely history last night from a friend that lives close there. Apparently there is a dolphin who likes to swim close to the harbour together with humans because the other dolphins don’t want to swim with him. I will definitely go back and have a lovely swim with or without dolphin;)
Montpellier
This is a very popular city among students from all over Europe. Did you know that Montpellier is the 8th sunniest city in France with 2,618 hours of sunshine per year?
Les Barcares
Narbonne
Have you ever been to the South of France?
If you want to read more about trips in France, check out my post about La Rochelle here 🙂
Tales from a Red Suitcase 
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