Beautiful apartment in the heart of the village

Our beautiful French 'appartement', on the Med, in the heart of the fishing village of Port Vendres, is somewhere to visit and fall in love with. It is on the top floor of an old converted town house, with fantastic views of the port. We have owned it since 2004 and have renovated it extensively so inside is modern, clean, convenient and comfortable, but you are not in a soulless, modern apartment block. We mostly keep the apartment for ourselves to use, plus friends and family, and everyone without exception just loves the place.

The apartment has three bedrooms:
- MASTER: king-size bed, desk, large wardrobe, drawers.
- BED 2: Double/single bunk, wardrobe, drawers.
- BED 3: Mezzanine, king-size bed, wardrobe, drawers, spiral staircase up to it and open to lounge/kitchen below.

There is one bathroom, with antique, cast-iron clawfoot bath and a separate shower. The kitchen/dining/lounge is a large open-plan space. The sofa converts to a comfortable double sofa bed (doesn't sag!). There is cable TV with wifi through the apartment. There is an undercover balcony with the view over the port - many an afternoon has been whiled away eating baguettes, anchovies (local speciality) and cheese, washed down with a glass (read: bottle) or two of local wine, while watching the view. There is a washing machine, tumble dryer and a dishwasher, a port-a-cot, and we can supply beach towels as well as all towels and linen (of course). The one negative with the apartment is the staircase: 3 flights of stairs (no lift) to get up to it. But the climb is well worth it and we always reckon it justifies the pain-au-chocolate!

Port Vendres is a working port with a fishing fleet and with regular visits from cruise ships and container vessels. It is hard to believe the size of some of the ships that are manoeuvred into position in our little port by the valiant tugs, but it makes for a great spectacle if you happen to be on the apartment balcony at the time! If you are up early you will normally be able to pick up some of last night's catch straight from the fishermen who will sell from the quayside, or visit 'Les Poissonneries de la Cote Catalane', the Port Vendres Fish Market, for some fabulous fresh seafood. The lovely thing about Port Vendres is it is a village, in France on the Med, but with life outside of tourism. So while there are plenty of tourist facilities in the village and nearby, you can visit at pretty much any time of year and still see plenty of local activity.

Port Vendres nestled at the foot of the French Pyrenees, on the Mediterranean coast. Its more famous neighbour, Collioure, is 3km (or a 40min walk) around the coast path to the north, and Banyuls-sur-mer is about 5km along the coast in the other direction. The nearest city is Perpignan (about 30 min drive), with Toulouse and Carcassonne airports also within striking distance. We are also just over an hour from Girona in Spain (and an hour further on to Barcelona) providing lots of flight options. There is a train operating approximately every 1-2 hours to/from Perpignan and on to the Spanish border, or you can catch the high-speed trains from Perpignan (which now go through to Barcelona).

Kids will love the local beaches (three within walking distance), the castle at Collioure, 'Le Petit Tren' (tourist train), kayak hire, bike hire, plus all the festivals and fireworks that are regular features throughout the year. There are a host of restaurants and cafes a short distance from the apartment. There are lots of other activities including hikes, bike rides, historical tours etc. and if you have a car you can easily access other local sights. There are vineyards all around, plus vintners pressing in several locations in the village itself. There are plenty of excellent local wines and a visit to Port Vendres wouldn't be complete without sampling a Banyuls - the region's sweet wine, perfect as a digestive and an apperitive.

There is a one-off charge of 90€ for each stay to cover cleaning, key handling, etc.