My “home town” of Perpignan and an excursion to Villefranche
I spent 14 of my growing up years in France and seven of those years were in the town of Perpignan in the south of France, half an hour from Spain. There we visited my Godparents which I had not seen for about 14 years so they had not met any of our children. It was an emotional reunion for me and I made them promise to come visit us!
Villefranche de Conflent is a medieval town that dates back to 1098. The town is surrounded by ramparts and is very picturesque. We took a self guided tour of the remparts and walked around the town one afternoon.
My son loved the ramparts and was pleased with a gift of a “medieval” bow and arrow.
The next day, we visited Perpignan which received a “facelift” in the last few years. It was fun to see what I recognized and did not recognized. The last time I was there was in 1998 so my memories were a little fuzzy. The town was much prettier than I remembered.
The Castillet was used as a prison during the French revolution. We used to watched the fireworks for the 14 of July from the street below. The river area looks so beautiful now and one was side is a pedestrian street with shops.
Next time we visit, we plan to spend a few more days there. It was kind of a last minute decision to spend a day and night there and I would like to spend more time with my godparents. It is difficult when you want to visit different friends and places and have limited time. I have found it harder this go around to leave and come back home. While I love my home and where we live, there is something about Europe and France in particular for me. Maybe it is because I spent my formative years there. I miss it!
A bientĂ´t!
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16 Comments
jodie filogomo
What a wonderful reunion for you Mireille!!
You have such a varied history, and it’s so nice you’re sharing it with us.
XOXO
Jodie
mimifce
Thanks for following along! Hope I don’t bore anyone but it fills my heart to share it. A lot of times people think that traveling is so expensive and while this trip wasn’t cheap, I was able to make it work in our budget (with a leaner rest of the summer, lol!)
Kelsey Bang
oh this all looks so fun! what a neat adventure!
kelseybang.com
4allthingsdisney.com
mimifce
it sure was! and ready for a new one, lol!
Kathrine Eldridge
What a beautiful place to grow up! Glad you got to stop by. Lovely photos!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
mimifce
I was glad too! We spent a lot of time camping in the pyreenees growing up which are only 30 min away!
Mother of 3
Such a beautiful area! How wonderful that you got to visit. I often find it hard to balance visiting family with travel/sight- seeing too.
mimifce
Next trip, we will do better! And next vacation is the beach at Thanksgiving so that will be all relaxation!
Jennifer
I’m glad you got to spend some time there.
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
mimifce
Thank you!
Amy Johnson
Wow! What an incredible place to grow up. You lead such an amazing life.
mimifce
I am very grateful for growing up in France!
Jill
What a beautiful town and such a special reunion! Your photos are lovely!
Jill – Doused in Pink
mimifce
Thank you! I am hoping I am not boring anyone because I have several more post coming up!
Mica
Oh it looks absolutely beautiful! How nice you could go back and visit a place you loved so much! 🙂 We went to Disneyland Paris on our Europe trip but sadly didn’t have time to explore any more of France – i’d love to one day, maybe when the boys are a bit bigger!
Hope that you are having a great weekend 🙂
http://awayfromtheblue.blogspot.com.au
mimifce
Yes! Our favorite part of France is the south but there are beautiful places in the north too!