Friday started off a little cooler, but soon warmed up, despite being a bit breezy all day. After breakfast, we toddled off down to the beach again and, as the tide was out, we walked out on to the rock jetty. From the end you can see Biarritz and quite a long way down the coast towards Spain. We finally settled on a nice spot to spread out our towels and read for a while.
Back at Eileen, we cooked up a pasta lunch and then after a bit more reading we locked up and stepped outside the campsite for our first bus ride in France. It was a tiny little bus with about 10 seats and it arrived exactly on time. We hopped off in the centre of Biarritz and took a turn around all the posh shops in town, before sitting down for a drink at a café above the beach. At 6:30pm it was still 30 C and the beach was packed.
Walking back through town we sat outside a tiny café and ordered crepes; lemon and sugar for me, Grand Marnier for Rodney. They were very nice, but too small, so I think I’ll whip up some bigger ones of our own sometime. We slowly plodded back to Eileen past full bars and empty bars, past youngsters sitting on the beach and in parks anywhere that music was playing. Friday night in Biarritz buzzes.
In the morning we packed up and left Biarritz, but as we drove round this roundabout, with the most amazing sculpture in the centre, we spotted a guy flat out on his back fast asleep, obviously recovering from a big Friday night on the town; it made the departure more …….interesting….
Our route took us though Bidart to St Jean de Luz. This is another lovely town and although it’s only 15 kms from Biarritz, it is completely different. The Basque style of architecture is very prominent and the long beach is set within a curved bay with a fort at one end and a harbour in the middle.
Being a Saturday morning, the shops were busy and the café’s were fast filling up. People were painting and selling pictures in the ‘Place Louis XIV’. We ate churros and drank hot chocolate in ‘La Pergola’ on the promenade above the beach and then strolled back to Eileen with our French stick, this time presented in a very posh bag. I whipped up some French stick sandwiches and we walked down to the nearest stretch of beach to eat our lunch and sunbathe a bit.
Unfortunately, as we finished eating, the clouds started to build and when it started to feel like the rain was imminent, we headed back to Eileen and drove her to the nearest supermarket to stock up, as tomorrow is Sunday.
So, decision time again. As it was no longer feeling like beach weather, we consulted the maps and our now numerous collection of camping books and decided to head through Ascain, (pretty), Sare (wedding happening) and on to Ainhoa. The turning in to the campsite in the centre of the village looked like a car park for the church so we missed it and had to drive a bit of a way out on the other side of the village, before finding another road that took us over the hills and down dirt tracks to the campsite. It’s very much the foothills of the Pyrenees and there are sheep to be seen at last; up until now, we’ve only seen cows everywhere. Unfortunately the rain kept falling as we set up Eileen for a night at ‘Camping Harazpy’ and a quiche salad dinner.
This morning we woke to a misty view outside, which slowly cleared a bit. The grass around us is the lushest we have seen for quite a while; there’s no mud and there’s a nice path up to the amenities block. There is only one other couple in the campsite, and they’ve parked up the top, so it feels like we have this whole place to ourselves. After the crowds in Biarritz, it feels lovely and peaceful.
Rodney is cooking up a bacon, egg and tomato breakfast with the Rolling Stones playing on the iPod. Suddenly the opening bars of ‘Brown Sugar’ have just peeled out and I’ve had this vision of Rentacrowd in Sydney all leaping into action on a dance floor somewhere……. Then I looked out of the window at this lovely view and I’m not home sick. We are having the most amazing experience.
A short stroll around Ainhoa was all that was needed, it is a very small village, but filled with the rather unusual Basque style of buildings.
We then followed the Michelin Guide ‘scenic route’ through Espelette, St Jean Pied de Port, Larceyveau Arros Cibits, it was lovely to see mountains starting to build in front of us. At one point I asked Rodney “Which village is this?” ……and his answer had me in giggles again…. ”I missed that one. Is it the next village after the one before?” Apparently he meant that he couldn’t remember the name of the last one, but this was the one after that…. I think !!!
Our stopping point for lunch had the most beautiful view and we followed it up with ice creams in Mauléon Licharre and also a quick stop at L’ Hopital St Blaise and finally we pulled in to Camping Gites du Stade in Oleron Sainte Marie. This town is supposed to have some very attractive parts, so we’ll have a look around in the morning and then head north towards Auch and then on to Gazaupouy to visit our friends Dave and Jane Barrett on Tuesday.