À la frontière entre la France et l'Espagne, disputée tout au long des siècles, jonché de châteaux forts, de monastères et de petits villages perchés, sillonné par des rivières et des gorges : voilà le département des Pyrénées-Orientales. Dominé par le Canigou, cette montagne mystérieuse et magique, c'est un pays dont le soleil omniprésent inonde les vignobles et les oliveraies. Doté de paysages spectaculaires, il est aussi riche en art et histoire ; pour les randonneurs, les cyclistes, les skieurs, les montagnards, les plaisanciers, tous les adeptes des sports de glisse, c'est un vrai paradis.
This fascinating account brings to life the history of Port-Vendres, a vital Mediterranean port from antiquity to the present day. This deep water harbour has always been a key location, close to the border between France and Spain, where the Pyrenees drop down into the Mediterranean. It has sheltered Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and Moors, the French, the Spanish, as they traded and fought their way around the Mediterranean coast. Soldiers, sailors and fishermen have landed here for centuries, making this small town a veritable mirror of the Mediterranean world.
Author Jane Mann has been researching and observing it all from her vantage point facing the entrance to the port, and offers a delightful and intriguing picture of a place she has come to love and call her home.
On the border between France and Spain, fought over for centuries, littered with castles, monasteries and tiny hilltop villages, divided by rivers and gorges, is the département of the Pyrénées-Orientales. Dominated by Canigou, the magical, mystical mountain, it is a sun-drenched land of vineyards and olive groves. Blessed with spectacular scenery, it is rich in art and history and, for walkers, cyclists, skiers, sailors, divers, swimmers, windsurfers and mountaineers, a paradise.
Jane Mann and Kate Hareng work together to produce P.-O. Life, the quarterly Anglophone magazine of the Pyrénées-Orientales. Both are passionate about the multi-faceted region in which they have chosen to live and know it intimately. In their book they invite you to explore and enjoy this southernmost corner of France, from high Pyrenean peaks to sparkling Mediterranean sea.
Jane has researched, photographed and collected a book-full of diverse and exciting places of interest for people of all ages and tastes to visit. Her descriptions are interspersed with Kate's useful vocabulary, French exercises, `Did-you-knows', tongue twisters and jokes.
Lavishly illustrated, the lively blend of information and essential facts make their helpful and instructive guide a must-have for visitors and residents alike.
