There were seven of us, eight if you included our guide, crammed into a tiny room, no bigger than 10 ft by 10ft, that served as the entrance hall. We were all facing a very large over accessorized polar bear that appeared to be smiling at us

Every home should have one.

And over the polar bears left shoulder was an owl, who definitely wasn’t smiling, and two very dead pigeons.

That, I can live without.

Somebody has a fascination with stuffed animals – and that somebody is Salvador Dali, and this is his house. It is full of so many wierd things that he has collected, along with some of his art, and a lot of rather unusual furniture, all put together by his wife Gala.

Dali once said “There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad”.

But then I look at this photo of him and I wonder if that is completely true

And the house itself doesn’t help his claim. At the very least it is eccentric, excessive, provocative…….. and totally fascinating. It is also a little hard to find as there are no signs for it. I stopped and asked someone for directions.

“Just look for the giant egg” she said

I did.

Who needs signs!

The guide had asked us whether she could talk to us in Spanish. I asked if it was possible for her to speak in English. A lovely Italian couple said they could understand English, and the parents with two small children volunteered that the father spoke excellent English and he could translate for his children. So English was settled on as the common language.

She began by explaining that in 1930 Dali discovered the charming little fishing village we are in (Port Lligat), on the mediterranean coast of Spain, not far from the French border. The light was perfect for an artist, he said, and so he bought a tiny fisherman’s cottage that he described as a hut, right on the beach. It was the end cottage of a terrace of seven running up the hillside. Over the years he bought all seven and reimagined them as one house.

Just as the guide finished her introduction, the door flew open htting me squarely in the back. Two rather large women without a piece of jewelry between them, making no apology, forced themselves into the room. The could hardly fit. The guide was a little taken aback, but explained to them that we had just agreed that she would talk in English. Both women screeched their disapproval.

“We are French” said one of the women ………. in perfect English……… “please talk in French”.

France is such a beautiful country with great food and outstanding wine. If only it didn’t have the French!

Navigating the house is not easy. It is like a maze, every room is tiny and they all seem to be on different levels joined together by a myriad of narrow little staircases. The contents are precious and roped off. It is not made for tours. Even the ten of us is too many. Actually the French women are so large it is more like 11 of us. There should be a size limit.

The house itself is enchanting. Dali loved to make unusual shapes in the rooms. He especially liked circles and arches

And in the garden even more so

And he made the most of the light and the views, especially in his studio.

But to me, the dining room was his masterpiece, where he designed the furniture to fit the room

It looks fabulous – as long as you didn’t have to sit there for a couple of hours!

And then when he had finished the rooms, he started to fill them.

The swans were his pets. He had several and when one died he had it stuffed. They are dotted around the house, each one in a different pose. He really was rather weird.

The entire house is full of books, over a thousand altogether. Many of them are about Dali! He liked to know what was being written about him. He also liked to know what was being written about his “competitors” in the art world

And if you wanted to know his opinion of Picasso you need look no further than the portrait Dali painted of him

Perhaps he didn’t like him very much.

Every room was crammed full of treasures, or what Dali considered to be treasures

And when he ran out of rooms to fill, he used the staircases

And when he ran out of stairs he started filling the garden

He had a thing about tires – especially the Michelin Man (don’t we all)

And Pirelli

He may not be mad, but he does take eccentricity to extremes!

The Fabulosity Meter took a while to decide, but in the end it went crazy. Just like Dali!