Day 03 17.04 . . . Pink Salt

Another quiet night with Loup until the little whine at 7am.
Due to the injuries sustained yesterday I was fully aware last night that I would be on early dog walk AGAIN this morning - and so it was.
We had a wander around the camp site and grabbed some photos of the Pyrenees as the sun fell on them.
Back at Roxvanne Tre was still in bed and told me she hadn’t got up as she needed to send an urgent email . . . This continued for another good 20 minutes. It genuinely was an urgent email - so I ate humble pie.
On climbing from Rox to visit the toilet block, I watched Tre very slowly and carefully make her way - it appears it is still painful.
We decided to visit the salt lakes at Gruissan which is famed for its pink lakes.
Before heading to the salt lakes we had a nose around Gruissan which had a lovely beach all overlooked by very American looking beach houses on stilts. We grabbed a coffee from a boulangerie before heading to the lakes which were on the outskirts of the town. On route we saw some flamingos in one of the numerous other lakes, just taking a stroll.
The salt lakes at Salin de Gruissan had a small museum together with a gift shop selling all things salt, as well as many many salt variations with different additives, including garlic, pepper and mixed spices.
After spending more than we had intended we ventured to the restaurant area which sits on the side of the lake. The lake water was distinctly pink and it became more evident dependant on how the sun fell on it and from which angle you viewed it from.
Le Salin de Gruissan is situated between the Mediterranean Sea and a lagoon known as l’Étang de l’Ayrolle.
Marshland was converted to salt fields that now cover an area of 400 hectares (990 acres). Sea water is pumped and travels 40km through the network. From over one hundred types of salt present in sea water, this process is able to isolate the only salt commercialised by Le Salin de Gruissan: sodium chloride.
The area receives more than its fair share of sun and wind, which accelerates the evaporation process. As different types of salt are filtered through the fields, the colour turn from blueish green to a radiant pinkish red.
Dunaliella salina, a micro-algae, gives Le Salin de Gruissan its gorgeous pink glow. Flamingos relish eating it and the large amounts of carotenoids produced by the algae turn their feathers pink. One of the back-salt fields is especially dedicated for flamingos who are known to reproduce happily there. An observation hut enables local wildlife authorities to study the birds.
Visit over we drove further along the lake sides and past the heaps of salt at the side of the road, exactly as stone is saved on building sites.
We then took a long walk along a nature path out through the lakes towards the coastline and returned with a very worn out four legged friend.
After leaving the salt lakes we visited Narbonne Decathlon to buy a couple of jackets. We intend visiting Andorra and Tre had already spotted the evening temperatures are still in minus figures - so a couple of jackets (as we had decided not to bring any with us) we’re required.
Jackets and further bits including a tent shade for Loup (ready for his first music festival in May) were purchased and stowed in Rox.
We had been told Collioure was worth a visit as it was very pretty - and so we started the return journey from this morning of just over an hour back south west.
Collioure was very pretty and well worth a stop, but it is one of the villages much like some in Cornwall where you have ti park almost in the next village and walk to the one you want to visit - as it was here. We ended up taking a very slow drive around much of the old town and down by the harbour side, eventually heading out the other side and on to another town called Port Vendres where we parked up.
After a fairly lengthy chat to an English couple who engaged us in conversation about Loup, we had a short but hectic ‘Loup Maniac’ session around some of the harbour streets. We are sure when it is windy it effects Loup pretty much how the wind effects horses - he goes nuts about literally everything, both he and I were knackered by the time we got back to Rox.
Port Vendres is a typical Mediterranean fishing port, situated near the Spanish border on the Côte Vermeille in southeastern France, Port-Vendres is renowned for its numerous fish and sea food restaurants. During the Second World War, the town was part of a heavily fortified coastal zone established by the occupying forces of Nazi Germany. Coastal artillery batteries were built at Cap Béar just south of the town, but the Germans abandoned the area in August 1944 a few days after the Allied landings on the Côte d'Azur during Operation Dragoon.
We then drove from the port back to our camp site via an Intermarché Hyper at Argèles-sur-Mer to grab a few bits to nibble and to get a 9month birthday prezzie for Loup, which transpired to be a fresh sardine - all 49 cents worth.
Back at camp we walked the campsite with Loup and then headed back to Rox to eat. Apart from the sardine and his normal food, Loup did acquire some very fresh, large, sweet crevettes, those Tre and I couldn’t manage.
Another day done with slightly less incident. Tomorrow we think we head to Spain.

Our song of the day is:
Foo Fighters - Everlong (Andy’s choice)

Todays album never heard before in its entirety is:
Nirvana - Nevermind (Our Rating 4/10)Read more