One of Guy de Maupassant's heroes, having been asked his impressions of Algiers, replied, "_Alger est une ville blanche!_" If it had been Perpignan of which he was speaking, he would have said: "_Perpignan est une ville rouge!_" for red is the dominant colour note of the entire city, from the red brick Castillet to the sidewalks in front of the cafés. Colour, however, is not the only thing that astonishes one at Perpignan; the _tramontane_, that cruel northwest wind, as cruel almost as the "mistral" of Provence, blows at times so fiercely that one wonders that one brick upon another stands in place on the grand old Castillet tower. The brick fortifications of Perpignan are, or were, wonderful constructions, following, in form and system, the ancient Roman manner. It was a sacrilege to strip from the lovely city of Perpignan its triple ramparts and Citadelle, leaving only the bare walls of the Castillet, the sole remainder of its strength of old. Perpignan's walls have disappeared, but still one realizes full well what an important strategic point it is, guarding, as it does, the eastern gateway into Spain. All the cities of the Midi possess some characteristic by which they are best known. Toulouse has its _Capitole_, Nîmes its _Arena_, Arles its Alyscamps, Pau its Château, and Perpignan its Castillet. Built entirely of rosy-red brick, its battlemented walls rise beside the Quai de la Basse to-day as proudly as they ever did, though shorn of their supporting ramparts, save the Porte Notre Dame adjoining. That fortunately has been spared. Above this Porte Notre Dame is a figure of the Madonna, which, as well as the gate, dates from the period when the kings of Aragon retook possession of the ephemeral Royaume de Majorque, of which Perpignan was the capital,--a glory, by the way, which endured less than seventy years, but which has left a noticeable trace in all things relating to the history of the region. In the tenth century Perpignan was known only as "Villa Perpiniani," indeed it so remained until it was conquered by Louis XIII, when it became definitely French. Bloody war, celebrated sieges, ravages by the pest, an earthquake or two, and incendiaries without number could not raze the city which in time became one of the great frontier strongholds of France. The Place de la Loge, the great café centre of Perpignan, is unique among the smaller cities of France. Here is animation at all hours of the day--and night, a perpetual going and coming of all the world, a veritable Rialto or a Rue de la Paix. It is the business centre of the city, and also the centre of its pleasures, a veritable forum. Cafés are all about; even the grand old _Loge de Mer_, a delicious construction of the fourteenth century, is a café. [Illustration: _Porte Notre Dame and the Castillet, Perpignan_]