While art enthusiasts love to follow the paths of Matisse and Picasso along the eastern coast of France on the Cote d'Azure, less well known is a breathtaking village in the southwest, where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean: Collioure. Here the fauvist movement came together in 1910, including Derain, Bracque and Matisse, attracted by the color and light. The Mediterranean sea and sky, with a northern wind and Catalan culture give Collioure an irresistible aesthetic charm. Matisse said:

In France there is no sky as blue as Collioure's...I just have to close the shutters of my room and I have all the colors of the Mediterranean before me.

If you wish to stay in Collioure, you would do well to book in advance. This charming and unspoiled village is nonetheless packed with visitors. As we approached by highway, we found ourselves in Catalan country, with roads indicated in Catalan signs and, hopefully, also in French.

From the beginning Collioure was a strategic and popular point for traders: Phocaean, Roman and Greek. It became an established port occupied by the Visigoths in 673, whose fortifications were developed over the centuries. In the 13th century the Mallorcan court occupied the chateau which divides the port into two sheltered harbors. Collioure was a stopping point for crusaders, and was a base for the Templars and the Dominicans. And then for a few centuries the Spanish and the French fought over Collioure. It took its present form in 1462 under the French--Louis XIV's military architect, Vauban, completed the chateau we see today. Finally the Pyreneean Peace Treaty of 1659 placed Collioure firmly in French hands. But even today the Catalan baroque architecture and Mediterranean art-de-vivre give it the feel of southern Europe. Today you can see the chateau, its massive fortifications defining the shape of the harbor, its courtyard serving as a theatre. You can see artifacts of history and various museums, but the striking attraction is the setting of Collioure.

This Catalan harbor is found not only in the works of Matisse, Derain and the fauves, but was also painted by Picasso, Chagall and many others. The "path of the fauves" takes you through the harbor and village with the views that each artist adopted pointed out along the way.

You can go to Collioure for the pathways of the artists, or for the history, or you can go for the swimming. Beaches, some of pebbles, are located all along this southernmost city, divided by the chateau and the Baroque church, Our Lady of the Angels, whose foundations are in the Mediterranean sea. You can dive off the stone battlements, or the various piers, or just paddle in the soothing salt sea. The water is crystal clear and comfortably warm in the sheltered harbor--it is only the sun, that bathes all vistas in their startling blue, that you have to fear.

Don't forget to walk through the village, following pathways up the slope of the coast, with their flowered balconies and bright colors. Collioure is a gem overlooked by many who seek out the muses of artists.