Biarriches

Saturday morning we woke up feeling forlorn because we had to leave Espana against our will, but chins up we set off for some breakfast along the beach on the way to collecting our car parked up on the hill. It was a nice sunny morning and the water view was lovely while sipping our espressos and noisettes, which didn't make the thought of leaving Espana any easier. Luckily the wait for 20 or so minutes after asking for the bill and never getting it, did. We just left a 10er on the table (maybe that's how they ensure a tip?!).

Biarritz

Because we'd waited so long for the honey badger to (never) bring us la cuenta, we only just made it back to the hotel in time to collect our bags for 11am check-out. It was quietly satisfying hearing the massive church next to us chime 11am as we wheeled our bags out into reception. Lucky I was babbling onto the lady about how I wanted to move to San Sebastian coz it turned out Ryan left his glasses in the room. Nice one Ryan.

Biarritz again

Our next stay was in Biarritz, on the western French coast less than an hour away, so we made a couple of stops along the way, the first being Hondarribia right on the French border. We'd heard this place had THE best pinxtos in Spain (which following la fuego negro is hard to imagine) so although it was barely midday and we hadn't done our research we thought we'd stop by. A cute little port town with German looking architecture we walked around but it was all a bit sleepy. I suspect the best pinxtos bars open later but we found one and had tried a few - nothing spectacular but we weren't surprised, and I wasn't too disappointed as I'm sure I will be back again in the coming years, and I'll make sure we're fully prepared!

More Biarritz (just a few steps down from our hotel)

So we left Hondarribia and crossed the border back into France, where there immediately seemed to be more trees. About a 15 minute drive and we reached Saint Jean de Luz, situated on the Bay of Biscay so sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean. It is also part of Basque country so didn't feel like we'd left Spain too far behind (which I guess we really hadn't). Although overcast, it was a Saturday and it was August so the place was pretty crowded. We managed to find a parking spot though somehow, then walked down to the water. It  was quite pretty although I think it would be nicer on a sunny day. So trying to forget all the Hola's and Si's and Gracia's from the last few weeks, we stopped in at a bar to try and get a coffee and/or drink and appreciate the view, but after waiting for the French honey badger to take our order and hearing we didn't want to "manger", we got the "Je suis desolee" and something about you having to eat up until 3pm. Lady! I have just spent 3 weeks eating my way around Spain. Do I look like I need to eat?! Anyway, I didn't post-Hondaribbia pinxtos, so we left.

Ryan on our little hotel balcony

We walked around the little town a bit, which looked quite cute, but then we just decided to head straight to Biarritz. About another 15 minutes or so and we were already there, in this "luxurious seaside town" also in Basque country. The sun had come out a bit when we arrived, and so the beach was packed (which had quite a decent swell) when we drove along it to find our hotel. Ryan was pretty excited about coming here since he saw it on Endless Summer, so was hoping to rent a surfboard and catch some waves.

We parked the car in a parking station and walked to our hotel, which was right down near the water and on a little pedestrians-only street full of shops, cafes and restaurants which looked pretty cool. We checked in, and it was a pretty nice spacious room with a little balcony were you could see some of the water. We then took a long walk (the "coastal walk") along the length of the coastline, to a few different beaches around different cliffs and lookout points. There were heaps of surfers enjoying the 5-6 foot swell, and lots of swimmers too, although I can imagine the water would have been a bit chilly!

Surf's up

The views were pretty spectacular and the walk along the coast and promenade, with the big casino and heaps of tourists (I think mainly pretty well-off French tourists?) eating ice creams, was nice. As it got later the tide began to come in, and it was funny watching the waves suddenly come another few metres up the beach within seconds and all the sunbathers scrambling to pick up their towels and stuff. They had built walls along certain sections, and it was quite spectacular to see the waves (which were getting bigger) crash on to the walls with spray shooting high into the air. Not somewhere I would want to be in a big storm!

We chilled in the hotel for a bit and looked up some good seafood places for dinner, and found Le Galion which had some good reviews. So we set back out to the restaurant, and after searching for an ATM for literally half an hour (we even tried the casino - where the people get their money from in such an affluent looking town I do no know), we got a table at Le Galion. It was a pretty nice looking place with water (and casino) views but the menu was pretty reasonable, and so we both got the 3 course summer menu for 19 Euros which was pretty good value! It even came with an amuse bouche (gazpacho). So I had some fish carpaccio and salmon tartare and fruit skewers which was all pretty nice. Ryan had some salad thing and grilled fish of the day (which had vegetables much to his delight) and some delicious chocolate dessert. Pretty good! After that we just headed home for a pretty early night, despite the streets around our hotel being packed with people who from the sounds of it partied into the wee hours.

Panoramic of Biarritz

The next morning the skies were again grey and it was pretty chilly, so Ryan decided not to go surfing after all. In fact we just checked out of the hotel and found a cafe for our morning coffees, and it was so chilly sitting there (must have been 15 degrees or something) that after waiting for Ryan's average croque monsieur to arrive (which was never clear whether it had actually been ordered or not) we just decided to get in the car and head straight to our next destination, Bordeaux. The rain soon started and the 2 hour drive to Bordeaux was mainly in the rain, some of it torrential, but it eased off just as we arrived in Bordeaux, although still a pretty chilly 17 degrees or so, much to my  dismay as this meant I would have to try and fit into my jeans. Oh dear.