No 20 - The House

Rue de la Liberté

The Kitchen

The Master Bedroom

First-Floor Bedroom

The Sitting-Room

The Stairs

No 20 is a peaceful house in a pedestrian street in the amiable, agreeable Faubourg. The house has kept its essence as a fisherman’s cottage whilst being fully, cheerfully and appropriately modernized for living in this century! It sleeps up to seven (plus a baby) comfortably. Sea, beach, shops, restaurants, and waterfront cafes are less than a minute’s walk. Matisse painted ‘Fenêtre Ouverte, Collioure’ ten metres away.

Loading and unloading can be arranged and parking is about seventy to a hundred metres away - or nearer on the street.

The ground floor of the house is the kitchen/dining-room equipped with hob, oven, microwave, kettle, fridge-freezer, dishwasher, and a filter coffee-maker; together with the usual kitchen equipment and all necessary crockery and cutlery. The dining table seats up to eight comfortably. The tiled floor and thick stone walls do much to provide a welcome coolness in the summer heat.

The first floor is taken up by a large twin bed-sitting room equipped with a third pull-out bed if needed, and plenty of storage space. At the far end of the room is an en suite shower room with shower, hand-basin and loo making it self-contained and perfect for a couple, or the children. There are board games on the shelves and a selection of recent fiction and non-fiction. A steam-iron and ironing board are stowed here too.

The second floor holds the master bedroom and the house’s main bathroom. The bedroom has a large double bed, plenty of clothes storage and good lights to read by at night. There are several shelves fiction and non-fiction in here too. The bathroom has the usual loo, bath and shower. The washing machine is, quite normally for France, in the bathroom.

The top floor is a bed-sitting room with a comfortable sofa-bed, seating and tables; together with the satellite TV and hi-fi system. French doors lead onto an open-air loggia with outdoor tables and chairs. The loggia whilst open with a good view over the rooftops to the sea, Notre Dame des Anges and the Château des Templiers – is roofed for some protection against the sun. A fridge on this floor makes it a fine place for a light meal or a drink in the evening when, in season, the swallows come bombing down between the rooftops as if auditioning for 'The Dambusters'.

No 20 is on four floors: the stairs between the ground, first and second floors are steep, stone, and go straight up without a change of direction – they are not really suitable for the very young, the very old or infirm. The flight from the second to the top floor does not run directly on to the other flights, but is wooden with open steps to a carpeted landing.