Perpignan

Hello my friends,

and a last French hello for now, as I made my way across the border to Spain today. In this post, I want to tell you a little bit about what I learned during my stay in Perpignan.

After the tour with my vehicle(s), I arrived in Perpignan, more precisely right by Lake Raho, and treated myself to a nice quiet dinner. As some of you might already suspect, so that I would have enough time afterwards to go for a swim in the lake.

Since my cooler box for Barcelona should be relatively empty, I started eating my remaining food. I had delicious fresh baguette and some cheese (Comtes), as is generally the case in France. The view in the background was also very welcome, with the Pyrenees in the background.

Thought and done - off to the lake. So I grabbed my things and made my way to the lake. I was quite surprised to find that I was the only one in the lake, but since the ducks were happily swimming in the water and there was a fishing rod 20 meters away, I didn't think much of it and got into the swampy water. What can I say, it wasn't nice and the water quality wasn't particularly great either. So I put my head underwater once and quickly swam the 20 strokes back to the shore. It should be mentioned here that even after the 20 strokes I could still stand in the lake. So I went back and after a short walk along the lake, I started heading back. There, a father of a family approached me and asked if I had been swimming in the lake and what the conditions were like. So I told him, 'I know more beautiful bodies of water and water shoes are recommended because of the muddy bottom.' I continued on my way and not far from the entrance gate of the campground, I turned away from the sign. On it, I only recognized the 'Swimming prohibited!' sign and with my knowledge of French, I understood at least that the water seems to be toxic.

WHOOPS!

My hypochondriac self went a little crazy and made its way straight to the campground shower to wash thoroughly and rinse out my mouth (even though I didn't swallow a drop of the stuff) as well as my nasal cavities and to clean my bikini and shoes thoroughly. Then another round with the organized shampoo/shower gel and then I started googling. And sure enough: The lake is temporarily closed because cyanide bacteria have been found in the water, which seems to be quite dangerous. While I briefly got shortness of breath and googled the symptoms of poisoning and the treatment, a policeman actually drove around the lake to make sure that no one would go into the water. He even followed one of the campers to his campsite.

I can't say what happened there and whether or not the camper had to pay a fine, but I can say that I made sure to watch whether the nice man would be taken away by helicopter and ambulance or not.

Since I'm writing this post for you today, you can guess: I'm still alive! And I didn't develop any symptoms and survived the night afterwards, despite the loud entertainment music from the campground. I learned from this experience that in unfamiliar bodies of water, I should first walk 50 meters in one direction and then 50 meters in the other, so that I notice such signs before visiting toxic bodies of water again.

After a quite eventful night, I made my way to the capital of Pyrénées-Orientales the next day - I drove to the city center of Perpignan.

After having some catching up to do in terms of my blog posts, I first looked for coffee and Wi-Fi.

And where better to do that than at the tourist office? Right - Nowhere. So ask and be curious where they would send me. What a surprise, the nice young man behind the counter, after my first confused 'What is your name?' instead of 'Do you speak English?', pointed me to a Starbucks in the city center. I am unofficially a fan of Starbucks! Free Wi-Fi, electricity included and a half liter of iced caramel macchiato (unfortunately not quite free). I spent the next 3 hours here and was afterwards very relieved to get some warm air, as I actually froze in the store because of the air conditioning.

After my coffee-filled break, I walked through the alleys of Perpignan.

After seeing a bit of the city center, I made my way to the Palais des rois de Majorque. It is an old palace that was used by the Kings of Mallorca when they tried to expand their kingdom.

From this palace, I wanted to continue walking to the parks of Perpignan, where there is more art, some fountains, and also war memorials. Unfortunately, on this quite direct route, I came across a district that I wouldn't directly visit alone otherwise and, for the first time alone in a city, I didn't feel completely safe. However, beaming out is not an option, so I put on a grim face, took quick steps, and walked through confidently! Honestly, I oriented myself towards chatty grannies on the street, with the thought that they might somehow save my ass, but luckily everything went well.

Finally, I arrived at the park and was able to take some snapshots here.

Afterwards, with a stop at Decathlon for a self-constructed sun and rain canopy, some cheap climbing shoes for DWS, and my own buddy bladder for swimming, I went back to the campground. It was quite an exciting few hours and an exciting day in general, so I was really looking forward to my bed and a restful night. The campground was so-so in general, so I didn't mind moving on after 2 nights.

The next day, a via ferrata in the middle of cliffs by the sea is on the agenda.

So dear people, I hope you can also take something from my experiences for the future. But in general, it applies: Those who live, learn!

So keep on learning diligently,
Yours, Britta