El vilatge de pescadors — Attraction in Perpignan

We were very lucky with weather today One, it was bitterly cold, clear but still and sunny. The lighting was great for seeing the colours of the birds' plumage and also highlighting the various surrounding hills.

One of the best parts of our visit today was lots of flamingos, however they were over on the other bank so rather far away. Fine for binoculars or photographers with big telephoto lenses though.

A large group of beautiful swans were very close to the shore, one in particular was giving a beautiful display and fluffing his wings up around him like a ballerina. Also seen today cormorants, many great crested grebes, a reed bunting, a hoopoe, a kestrel, and several others.

Walking was a bit squishy underfoot today in a couple of places but nothing drastic. Comfortable walking shoes are best but trainers would be fine as nothing too uneven and there are decent sandy paths around the reserve. Might be heavy going in a wheelchair though so probably best for people that are able to walk. Having said that if you can manage even a short walk or have a strong person to push a wheelchair to near the edge of the water you will have an amazing view and lots of bird...

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More or less halfway between Canet-Plage and Saint-Cyprien-Plage is this little fishermen's village, nestling on the shores of the etang de Canet.

These huts are not originals, having been reconstructed some 20-25 years ago, but using all the traditional techniques, the traditional materials (drift-wood, canes and reeds) and with the traditional internal layout of 3 rooms, one to store nets and other fishing equipment, one a kitchen-cum-living room, and one sleeping quarters.

Nowadays no-one lives here, they are just used to store fishing equipment, especially that used for catching eels, the main ingredient (together with potatoes, lard and garlic) of the local, very filling, eel soup, called...

Entre Canet et Saint Cyprien, très accessible à pied par le sentier entre mer et étang, (en « bagnole » les places de parking sont heureusement limitées), la mémoire de vies anciennes est conservée en un lieu de promenade, de jogging, d’aire de jeux, d’errance peut-être, au milieu de cabanes de pêcheurs, habitats de roseaux et de bois récupéré savamment assemblés, anciens lieux de vie autarcique des travailleurs de la mer usant d’un vocabulaire ancestral aujourd’hui désuet: Le trabaque pour pêcher , la bouillinade pour déguster l’anguille fraîchement pêchée sur l’étang voisin. L’étendue lagunaire est riche en espèces d’oiseaux migrateurs, que l’on peut observer dans un observatoire qui s’élance sur la surface tranquille. Sur ce lieu aménagé avec bonheur, la nature a fait un pacte avec la société. Ou serait ce l’inverse ? Mais il est trahi par l’empreinte touristique qui se repère par ci par là, reliefs de pique-nique, sacs à crottes, récréments , toute une panoplie de rebuts et résidus, malgré une poubelle municipale négligée et qui, de plus, se renverse et se répand lors des grands vents. Ce site appartient pourtant à notre maison commune, la planète…il faut tous ensemble en...