Collioure
©
Collioure

Collioure

Catalan fishing town on the Côte Vermeille, closely associated with Matisse, Derain, and Fauvism.

Collioure is the kind of small town that earns its reputation. A Catalan fishing village on the Côte Vermeille — the vermilion coast where the Pyrenees run down to the Mediterranean — it was painted so often and so well by Matisse, Derain, Braque, and Picasso in the early 20th century that it effectively became one of the birthplaces of Fauvism. "In the whole of France there is no sky as blue as the one above Collioure," Matisse wrote, and he was right about the quality of the light, which is exceptional: intense, clear, and reflected off both the sea and the red-schist rock that gives the coast its distinctive colour.

The town is small — a few thousand inhabitants — and its centre is concentrated around the harbour, the royal castle, and the baroque church whose bell tower incorporates a medieval lighthouse. The Château Royal sits directly on the waterfront, its foundations in the sea, a massive fortification built by the Templars and extended by the Aragonese kings and then Vauban. The Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges, with its pink dome and round tower-lighthouse, is the image that appears on every postcard of the town.

Collioure produces its own wine — the Collioure AOC, predominantly Grenache and Syrah — and the local anchovy industry is a genuine regional tradition: the salt-cured anchovies of Collioure, packed in tins or sold loose, are considered among the best in France and make an excellent thing to take home. The town is extremely busy in summer; Perpignan is 27 kilometres to the north and makes a more practical base for exploring the area.

Guide

Eating Out

Collioure eats Catalan: anchovies are the local obsession, sold salt-packed or in oil at several specialist shops and appearing on menus in various forms. The anchovies here have been cured in salt for centuries and are genuinely different from the Italian or Spanish versions — stronger, more complex, very good with good bread and butter. The local wine, the Collioure AOC, is predominantly Grenache and Syrah and goes well with fish and the local charcuterie.

The restaurants around the harbour are tourist-oriented and prices reflect the location; the streets behind the church and away from the water are somewhat less expensive. Quality is generally good given the competition for a discerning French summer crowd.

Guide

Getting There

Collioure has a small train station on the Perpignan-Cerbère line, with several trains daily from Perpignan (about 25 minutes). The station is a short walk from the town centre.

By road, Collioure is 27 kilometres south of Perpignan on the D114, which follows the coast through the dramatic red-rock scenery of the Côte Vermeille. The road is narrow and slow in summer; the train is often quicker and always less stressful. Parking in and around Collioure is very limited in July and August; the strategy is to park at the edge of town and walk.

Guide

Things to Do

The Château Royal and the Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges are the two main architectural draws, both on or near the harbour. The town is small enough that wandering without a plan is the best approach: the narrow streets of the old quarter, the harbour promenade, the beaches to either side of the castle. The Musée d'Art Moderne holds works by artists who painted here in the early 20th century, and the town has set up a "Chemin du Fauvisme" — a walking route with reproductions of the Fauvist paintings made on the spot where they were painted.