Some vacations take it out of you. You know those types?? And other ones do the opposite, they remind you of what matters and they energize you and they recalibrate your perspectives. Our week in Collioure was that second type of vacation, one of the really good ones.

Getting there

What you have to know about Collioure is that, while it’s in France, it’s actually just on the border with Spain. They still speak French, and make croissants that will blow your mind, but you see plenty of Catalan flags and signage too.

Like most sleepy coastal towns, it isn’t straightforward to get there. From Los Anageles we flew to Barcelona (with a two day pit stop in NYC for World Pride). From there, we took a high-speed train to a French town called Perpignan. And from Perpignan, we took a local train to Collioure.

We’ve been fortunate to travel together lots in the last 10 years and we’ve learned the essentials and keep trying new ways of traveling together all the time. Here’s an example…

Essential: snacks at all time. New thing: sitting across the aisle from each other on the airplane. Does anyone else do this?? We just both want to be comfortable and have space and everyone knows aisle seats are the best. So on the flight to Barcelona, we tried out both having aisle seats. It was way better than having a middle seat on a flight that long. We weren’t able to whisper things about the other passengers as easily but you win some, you lose some. We’ll probably do it again if the alternative is 12 hours in a middle seat!

And in the topic of snacks… dear lord we found heaven and it’s in a train station in Barcelona. After landing in Barcelona a few hours late and taking the subway to Sants, the big train station in the city, we are feeling pretty famished. We head straight for the closest food and lo and behold: a tortilla rellena. We are already total tortilla española addicts so this is like… muerto, quieres misa? (Cuban phrase, look it up) It’s esssentially a sandwich that has replaced the bread with tortilla and it’s all you’ve ever wanted. Think back to 2015 and remember the ramen burger? It’s like that concept, but Spanish.

That train station situation was perfect because we still needed our energy for the two trains and 40 minute walk through town from the train station to our hilltop home for the week. It was evening when we got to Collioure finally and Cristian’s fam welcomed us with dinner and copious wine. We arrived 😌

Where we stayed

Ok wow - so this house we stayed in was amazing.

The entry way had tall ceilings and a wall of glass bricks. The house was built into a stoney rock face so you saw elements of rock exposed inside and outside the house. A set of stairs took you to the first floor. That’s where we and Cristian’s sister and boyfriend stayed. We had a shared balcony facing the town and Acapulco chairs we would later eat chips and drink wine from. The next floor had two more rooms and an exit to a little courtyard space (where Cristian found a dead (?!) scorpion). The third floor had a beautiful Mad Men living room with a balcony that also looked over the town. The view from here was incredible and became a nightly ritual to visit for the breeze. Up till now, all the floors were a glazed red brick, but a half flight of stairs up landed you in a finished concrete floor kitchen/dining room. The grey of the concrete cooled the space down visually and the blasting AC cooled it down in every other way. This was the only room in the house with AC so it quickly became the family’s home base, especially since there was a heat wave all week. The kitchen had its own fabulous little balcony overlooking the Mediterranean (great for croissant photoshoots). The appliances were pretty new and thank god there was a dishwasher with the number of people in the house!

The dining room led to a sprawling outdoor area we used for dinner the first night. With the sun setting on the other side of the house, it gave the sky a pink glow that made the perfect backdrop to a big family dinner. 15 paces away from the dining area was the pièce de résistance: 4 lounge chairs framing an infinity pool that sent your gaze to the ocean and that intensifying pink sunset. It was a sight to behold and one we would ultimately devote a full day to appreciate.

Back in the house, one final set of stairs took you to a loft-like office, open air with sight lines to the dining room on one side and the mid century modern living room below. The couch in that room would become a favorite spot for Nana to escape the heat but keep a tab on everyone’s whereabouts while she read a novel, played her crossword, and took the occasional afternoon snooze.

We wanted to share all that because the house really does affect so much of a trip like this. Knowing that people have corners to hide in and where we congregated, it’s just as important on a multi-generational family vacation as the sights and sounds of the trip. Our favorite part of the house had to be the pool and the views from the balconies. The rooms were a good size, but the heat wave made them toasty at night. Thankfully some fans and a little ocean breeze kept us all cooler at night.

The food

No one goes to France without some serious food expectations. We should note that for two weeks before going on this trip, Cristian had been trying out a vegan diet. That was not going to stay the case on this trip. He could consider a diet with less meat than normal, but avoiding butter and cheese was just not on the table, so to speak

Every morning the two of us would wake up a lot earlier than the rest of the house. We would sneak out while the sun was still rising and pop into different boulangeries. Our favorite ended up being one that was closest to the house, just down the hill where a little carousel sat at the end of one of the town’s beaches. It wasn’t overly decorated or trying to be too cute. This place was hot, maybe 90 degrees when you walked in. A big metal furnace occupied the right half of the store. A glass counter with fresh loaves of bread and pastries tempted you on the other side. We picked up two loaves of bread (one brown, one white) and a half-dozen plain and chocolate croissants. This buttery smorgasbord would make up our mornings all week. Sometimes with apricot jam, other times with a slice of cheese and a ripe nectarine, always with espresso.

For most lunches, we ate at home by the pool or in the AC of the dining room. The anchovies were the white kind, freshly caught, and were a feature of every lunch we had all week. Along with a few pounds of cheese, some greens, and gorgeous fresh veggies, we would fuel up by the pool, maybe with a beer or two, and then prepare for the day’s activities.

And our dinners we did both at home and at some nearby restaurants. Each time we went out, it was another unforgettable waterfront restaurant overlooking the harbor.

The views and the company made these dinners amazing. Cristian got a little adventurous with his dinners, ordering a salad as a main dish one night (normally a bad idea outside the US since we have a different philosophy on salads) and pigeon the second night! He was stuck between a lobster pasta and this intriguing pigeon dish. When he decided to crowd-source his dinner pick with an Instagram poll, he was surprised to see when it came time to order that more people had voted for the pigeon! Of course, soon after the poll flipped and in the end lobster was the crowd favorite. 🤷🏻‍♂️ It was a learning experience (don’t crowd source your dinner picks) and Cristian can say he’s tried pigeon and would probably pick the lobster if given the two options again.

Top 5 things to do

Now we could go on forever about all the amazing things we did in the area, but a pictures worth 1,000 words and we have plenty of pictures. Here’s were our top 5 favorite things to do in Collioure with pictures.