El centre del món

More central in large.

I thought of chaiselongue as soon as I saw this; in August 2012, when we had our Perpignan blipmeet, she'd blipped the station while wondering how she'd managed not to visit Perpignan earlier. She loved the few days she spent there with LoJardinier, and wanted to return; she never did, but you can see the Flickr set she made here.

When I phoned the garage at 5 pm yesterday for news on the car, they hadn't even looked at it; I was not impressed. So today was devoted to getting home by public transport. It turned out to be surprisingly cost-effective and efficient ... for the most part. The bus from Bourg Madame to Perpignan took two and a half hours and cost just one euro thanks to public subsidies. That's probably only about half an hour longer than it would take to drive; it' a tricky road, and the scenery is lovely, especially on a fine day like today.

In Perpignan I had an hour to wait for the train, so I stepped out of the station to take some photos. As I was waiting at the lights to cross the road back to the station, a smart Parisian-looking chap next to me rolled his eyes and said, "What an ugly station!" I looked at him in amazement and he looked equally surprised when I said I liked it for the colours, the light, the reflections -- perfect for one of the sunniest towns in France. if you are wondering, the name is a reference to Salvador Dali's claim that Perpignan station was the centre of the world.

At this point it occurred to me that I really should have booked a taxi to pick me up in Lézignan. The newly revamped Centre of the World has no public phones. The station in Narbonne has three, all of which were broken. The woman at the information desk didn't look the least bit interested when I pointed this out to her. Only losers use public phones, I guess.

In Lézignan there is one, and it was broken, permanently by the look of it. At least the ticket lady here took pity on the phone-deprived and phoned a taxi for me, and then I only had to wait an hour for it to turn up. But I spent my time on the terrace of the Café de la Gare, reading my book in the sunshine. And when I got home, eight hours after I set out, I bought a phone online :)

Yesterday is backblipped -- worth a look if you like mountains.