Retirada

There was an early start at 8.30am to drive to La Jonquera in the old jeeps for the start of the day to mark the exodus from Spain of all those who opposed Franco in 1930s. We started with a

coffee before a visit to the museum where we were given a guided tour.What a surprise, for a Warwickshire lass to find a quotation from Shakespeare in Catalan.

Less surprising was the link made with the present day forced exile of thousands of people throughout the world. The exhibits included poster propaganda, photos, everyday articles found in the refugee camps in France and a huge representation of the footmarks left in the sand at Argeles where one of the camps was located. I was sorry that Christian wasn't there to see it as well but we'll no doubt visit together later as it's well worth it. Christian had to be present in the other village where there was an exhibition of photo-journalism from the era. From the museum we clambered back in the jeeps and headed further up into the mountains to start our walk along the paths taken by the refugees. It was a lovely sunny day, there were interesting people to talk to and the walk wasn't too difficult. What was our reward on arriving? Yes, of course, an apéritif! After that it was into the restaurant where about 25 of us (including Christian, Bernadette and Mary) sat down to lunch. Rounded off the day with tea at Joelle's.