Perpignan

No one arrives in Perpignan, in the glorious Languedoc-Roussillon region of France (the ‘other’ South of France) and next to Catalonia, without being made aware that in the ‘60s Salvador Dali hailed the local railway station “the centre of the universe”. The city itself is slightly more bashful, revising the quote engraved in situ to “Perpignan: Centre du Monde” but either way this dazzling status should not eclipse another world just beyond Dali’s universe, one that seduced many of the 20th-century’s finest artists.

The picturesque fishing village of Collioure is one such place, less than €5 and 25 minutes from Perpignan by train, or half an hour by bus or hire car. One of a thread of villages strung like so many pearls along the bays of the Roussillon coast, it is home to distinctive boats bobbing by a shingle beach. “Collioure without sails is like an evening without stars.” Said artist Raoul Dufy. This port has always been great art waiting to happen.

The only surprise is that, through several centuries of stunning architecture and breathtaking views, it took until 1905 for the art world to recognise the fact. Matisse and Andre Derain thrilled at the bluest skies and seas and took post-impressionist painting to new heights of audacity by flinging vibrant hues on their canvases and shocking the great Paris exhibition of that year with the birth of Fauvism. Stop by the Espace Fauve on the quayside and spend €5 on Le Fauvisme a Colioure, a useful little guidebook to a walking trail with 20 reproductions of Matisse and Derains displayed wherever the masters set up their easels along the way. There is a museum of contemporary art in town, with works by Jean Cocteau among others, but the real gallery is the port itself. In high season the salt-scented air is spiced with the fragrances of paints and turps as modern-day creatives jostle for the best view. And at the Templiers hotel and restaurant, some 2,000 paintings cram the walls, which are the private collection of hosts who welcomed the great talents of the past century. Stay for lunch – the food is still some of the best cooking in the Elizabeth David tradition to be had on the Med – than ask to see the visitors’ book with priceless thank– you sketches by Picasso, Matisse and their contemporaries.

In this part of the world, several hundred miles from the fashionable salons of Paris, the real French don’t put great artists on pedestals (case in point – when France’s then-oldest inhabitant was asked what she remembered most about working for Vincent van Gogh in Arles, she replied: “His BO”.) So when Henri Matisse arrived in Collioure, the locals judged him not as the mere founder of the Fauvist movement, but for his taste in Banyuls wine as poured by Rene Pouls at the bar of the Hotel des Templiers. Likewise, Picasso got the nod of approval for tucking into Madame Pouls ’bouillabaisse whenever he came to town.

It sometimes seems that every bay, every port in this region has its own native or adopted world-class artist. Some 10 minutes along the coast, you learn that in the town of Banyuls, neither sunset shade nor sweeping landscape inspired its favourite son – Aristide Maillol immortalised curves of a different kind. Born into a fishing and winegrowing family, this contemporary of Renoir and Rodin sculpted the female form, his nudes inspiring an entire museum in Paris and a superb gallery in Banyuls-sur-Mer.

You can also meet Maillol’s women back in Perpignan. Pass one of his statues en route to Place Republique, walking up rue Louis Blanc (the street Louis XIV feared to drive along in 1660 in case his carriage got stuck). Stop off for a drink at the Republic Café, where music tends towards techno and beer may cost a euro or two more than neighbouring bars on the square, but the décor is pure Gaudi camp. It’s a reminder that Perpignan is just across the border from the most famous Catalan city of all, Barcelona. If the two-hour drive is an art pilgrimage too far, then nip out of town to Ceret, where the modern art museum is crammed with work by the greatest talents of the last century. Find Maillol’s studies for Ceret’s war memorial, paintings by Miro and Chagall, and Dali’s Noah’Ark.

Perpignan is one those towns that always seems to suggest something extra just around the corner. Perhaps it is the sight of the Pyrenees piercing the metropolitan horizon and upstaging the local architecture; it could be the tang of salt sea air that recalls Mediterranean coves just 20 Miles down the road; or maybe it is the combination of French, Spanish and Catalan cultures that simply can’t be contained by city limits and make the region worthy of admiration.

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