Travel Stories

Stone gateways, medieval churches and a lunch worth lingering over: Palau-sator and its neighbouring villages invite a slower look at Catalunya’s Baix Empordà. We explore Fontclara, Torrent, Pals and the villages between by bicycle, finding open countryside, quiet lanes and plenty of reasons to stop.

A Catalan Festa Major is part village fête, part street carnival and part declaration of local identity. In Corçà, giants, sardanes, brass bands, communal food, church traditions and late-night parties show how old customs still sit comfortably at the centre of village life.

We passed the Channel Islands sometime around the middle of the day and, as I write this, I suspect we are somewhere in the Bay of Biscay. There is something rather pleasing about not knowing precisely where you are. The ship knows. Presumably the captain knows. For the rest of us, there is sea outside the window and that seems sufficient.

Much of the day was spent driving to the port – Portsmouth in fact. You know the routine: Motorway –> delays –> arriving late at the port –> then getting the full security treatment including an inspection under the bonnet. Well we’re on board now. There’s entertainment, a party atmosphere. A demographic who really should be tucked up in bed by now with hot cocoa but are downing drinks from the bar instead.