On our way to Barcelona, we had a six hour stop to explore the beautiful town of Perpignan.

On our journey to Barcelona from Marseille by train, we planned a six hour layover in Perpignan to explore another picturesque French town that we may not get a chance to see again.

Nutella crepe

In researching Perpignan, I learned that the medieval town has an interesting history to go along with its beauty. According to Lonely Planet, Perpignan feels as much Spanish as it does French, so it seemed like the perfect segway on our trip from France to Spain.

We arrived in Perpignan around 3 p.m. and the only downside to that was that all of the restaurants had stopped serving lunch.

We had hoped to try one of its many highly rated restaurants, but ended up with two sandwiches and some chips. But don’t think that we settled — those sandwiches were pretty darn good.

However, I couldn’t resist the Nutella crepes from a small bakery near our lunch spot…so I dived into one of my most favorite treats.

The streets of Perpignan are full of young people, restaurants and shops.

By the time we had rolled our bags up to find a lunch spot and then down to get the nutella crepe, our arms and legs were exhausted (and we didn’t even pack that much!) So, we stopped for some people watching.

The people of Perpignan are very interesting to watch. Most of the people we saw were in their teens or early 20s and were smoking. Everyone was speaking French at an ultra fast rate and were popping in and out of the shops that lined the streets.

I could totally imagine myself as a young French teen enjoying the day by shopping, hanging out with friends and having a cooling glass of white wine at the local bar. That sounds like a perfect day.

The old Roman walls in Perpignan separate the new city from the old city.

Once our feet (and arms) rested a few minutes, we walked around a bit more and found the quaint shopping district in the old part of the city.

Because it was a Thursday when we were traveling, there weren’t that many tourists in the area. It was mostly locals enjoying the beautiful afternoon. I had promised my sister a scarf and one of the first shops we stopped in had the perfect one for her. I wish I had bought two because I loved it so much I almost didn’t mail it to her when I got home.

After shopping, we made our way back to near the train station. There was a little bar across the street, so we stopped for a beer and some peanuts. I didn’t know they served peanuts in France, but alas there they were. I think it is a way to sell more beer because they make you thirst, but that is just a theory.

Perpignan isn’t a big town, but I know that there were many places that we didn’t explore that day.
I can’t wait to get back and get to know the city a bit more. Right now, I feel like we were just strangers passing each other by on the highway and I would much rather get to know her and call her a friend.

Perpignan is incredibly beautiful with its flowing tributary and green grass.