We took the road out of Cadaquez where we had spent the night on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. As we drove through the hills we were searching for the fishing village of Port Lligat. Driving down from the hills we welcomed the sight of the beautiful Mediterranean and found a place to park the car near the house owned by the famous artist Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, better known as Salvador Dali. Dali, who lived between 1904 and 1989 had bought the small fisherman's house about 1920 and continuously modified it for more than twenty years. We were anxious to see it. Claudette had made reservations for a tour at 4P.M. The only way to see the house is by guided tour. We don't care much guided tours much, but that was the only way to see this house. It was about ten minutes before the tour was to begin when we reached the location. I let Claudette out of the car to insure our place in the tour while i parked the car. A sign in the car park area announced that the parking fee was three euros but the man at the open air bar said it was free. I did not question his authority and hastened to catch up with Claudette.
The house was a unique looking structure just a few meters from the gravel beach. We were asked to leave any bags in a locker area nearby before going up the entrance stairs to the house. The female tour guide quickly ascertained how many languages were spoken by her charges before beginning her descriptions of what we were seeing. She was quite efficient and we only heard the same description three times. Or, at least I presume it was the same. We were entering the place of artistic genius and, perhaps, a bit of his aura lingered. You kind of get that feeling you get when you are in those places the famous have been. Places like where Ann Bolin lost her head or Joan d'Arc was burned at the stake or Elvis recorded "That's Alright Mama". It was that kind of place. This house is a happy place, very colorful. It consists of a labyrinth of hallways connecting rooms on three different levels. My favorite room in the house is the studio/workshop. The big windows face the sea and it has a very interesting easel. Dali preferred to work on his paintings sitting and therefore had an easel which moved the canvas up and down into an opening in the floor via a system of pulleys and weights. Fascinating. Also in nooks and crannies around the studio were props from his works. Many objects that a Dali fan would recognize from his paintings but we were unsuccessful in finding a melting pocket watch. There was an exquisite puppet theatre.The bedroom was interesting in that it had two double beds and was oriented so that the rising sun illuminated the room at dawn. The house has objects d'arte everywhere but there wasn't time to examine many things closely, the guides hurried us along. (We were the last tour of the day!) In one corner of a room there was a large container of walking canes. I recall seeing quite a few photographs of Dali with a cane. Throughout the house are many paintings of Gala, Dali's Russian born wife. in various stages of undress. There is a circular room and other rooms including one small room dedicated to newspaper clippings and photographs of the famous people photographed with Dali.
You exit the house onto a terrace which overlooks a garden. Immediately outside the door to the right is a narrow opening in the wall lake a narrow shallow tunnel. Claudette was able to squeeze through the opening and discovered a full length mirror. The house continued to surprise. On the terrace is a sculpture of a giant egg big enough for a person to get inside and a view of Dali's abstract image of Christ made of trash and refuse. As you continue around to the right you enter the area of the swimming pool. The area is like an outdoor room. The most notable feature of this room is the sofa which appears as a giant set of lips. Actually, sensuous female lips in brilliant red.
Dali spent some of his time in New York and Paris but did a lot of work in Port Lligat. He and Gala were happy here but after her death in 1982, he never returned.
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