Fete des Vendages

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Fri 24 Sep 2010 10:35

Has anyone ever gone to the fete des vendage at Banyuls, and if so have you any tips on travelling/parking.

I assume the town must be heaving by Sunday afternoon and virtually impossible to navigate by car. Do they create car parks at the town limits and run buses or have some other strategy for getting people in and out?

Any advice would be appreciated.

russell · Post by **russell** » Fri 24 Sep 2010 15:31

We went once, by accident, not rellising it was on that day. Yes, parking was difficult but we did manage to find a spot near the port. There did not seem to be any special arrangement for parking, just the usual chaos!

Russell

Sav · Post by **Sav** » Fri 24 Sep 2010 16:24

Hi all

We are planning to go to this event, does anyone have public transport details please ?

Cheers Sav

thumbelina · Post by **thumbelina** » Fri 24 Sep 2010 17:02

The buses run from Perps to Cerbere on a Sunday, so you'll be OK with the bus. Alternatively there are trains from Argeles to Banyuls, too.

Sav · Post by **Sav** » Fri 24 Sep 2010 17:56

thumbelina wrote:The buses run from Perps to Cerbere on a Sunday, so you'll be OK with the bus. Alternatively there are trains from Argeles to Banyuls, too.

Thank you

Cheers Sav

thumbelina · Post by **thumbelina** » Fri 24 Sep 2010 17:59

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Sat 25 Sep 2010 17:12

Thanks for public transport suggestions.

We went into Banyuls tourist office today - they say if you arrive in the morning there shouldn't be a problem parking.

DIY breathaliser kits available opposite tourist information during the event. Otherwise wait for the police checkpoint on the Banyuls - Port Vendres road!

Debbie and Noel · Post by **Debbie and Noel** » Wed 29 Sep 2010 21:08

Just spotted this! I wanted to go too but I'm back in Blighty for six weeks. What does surprise me is that nobody from Banyuls has offered any advice. It's our favorite beach area and we go there quite often. I know there are many English speakers living there permanently. Odd isn't it?

Noel

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Wed 29 Sep 2010 22:04

I expect they just want to keep the event for themselves.

Anway if you follow this link - about halfway down the page there is a tiny image of the leaflet with all the details just under "Téléchargez le programme de la 15ème Fête des Vendanges du 5 au 10 octobre 2010"

Click in the image and you can download a pdf which tells you what's on and other info.http://banyuls-sur-mer.com/articles-8/6 ... vendanges/

thumbelina · Post by **thumbelina** » Wed 29 Sep 2010 22:06

Debbie and Noel wrote:Just spotted this! I wanted to go too but I'm back in Blighty for six weeks. What does surprise me is that nobody from Banyuls has offered any advice. It's our favorite beach area and we go there quite often. I know there are many English speakers living there permanently. Odd isn't it?

Noel

Not really. Just because there are a lot of English speakers living there permanently doesn't necessarily mean that they are members of the forum.

That or Ian's right - and they want to keep it for themselves lol

john · Post by **john** » Thu 30 Sep 2010 09:11

If it's any help,we went to the Fete des Oranges (unusual,in that there did not appear,other than on a couple of market stalls, to be any oranges there) in Banyuls, a couple of winters back.

It's true,driving/parking in the town was horrendous,but there was a huge car park on some waste ground right next to the railway station. From there it was a pleasant walk (15 mins) into the town . A bit steep on the way back but not too bad.

Getting out afterwards was a breeze,and I did not see any gun-toting Gendarmes armed with breathalysers.....

sue and paul · Post by **sue and paul** » Thu 30 Sep 2010 10:43

John wrote..."there did not appear,other than on a couple of market stalls, to be any oranges there"

I agree. We went to the Fete des Oranges too a couple of winters back - so few people there, just orange-designed tablecloths and aprons and such.

Fete des Vendanges was a bit different though...crowded, lots of atmosphere. bbqs on beach, little bands playing with attendant drunk local hobo dancing around...we managed to park at the top of the hill on the main road approach from Argeles direction, and walked down.

mand · Post by **mand** » Thu 30 Sep 2010 13:02

We'll be going to this event again this year, last year we caught the bus from argeles to banyuls ( think it was about 10am) We caught the evening train back because i think the last bus was about 17:30.

It is a good day on the sunday lots of people, the private BBQ's on the beach plus the wine tasting, you have to purchase a glass and tickets for that from outside Hotel de Ville there is also a BBQ being advertised for about €25 don't know if you have to book for that or just turn up.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Sat 09 Oct 2010 20:03

Because of the weather we'll skip the visit tomorrow. But we did go along this morning despite the drizzle. Parked easily by the promenade, and bought our 3 euro glasses.

The rain set in, so we just stayed put at the Caves Banyuls L'Etoile and worked our way through their list - well almost.

Wonderful ambience from the gathering and from riotous brass band/entertainers. Scurried to a restaurant for lunch and headed home to a sunny Amelie les Bains.

Perhaps we will be able to do the event more "comprehensively" next year.

Santiago · Post by **Santiago** » Sun 10 Oct 2010 10:57

If you do brave the weather. I recommend Domaine Madeloc who allegedly have tastings of the single grape varieties before blending. Berta-Maillol is also worth a visit. Good wines and nice people. There will be roadblocks and breathalisers!

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Fete des Vendages

Fete des Vendages