This past week Carlos and I took a vacation to the French Basque country. Tickets on the train were only 20euros round trip. Much better than taking a plane. You can bring anything you want! Even though it does take longer...
We were stationed out of Biarritz for the week which is a pretty fancy resort town that was created so by a Russian Czar who went and loved it and by some Californian beach boys who went and loved the surf. If you don't have a car it takes a little while to get to Biarritz. We trained from Madrid to Hendaye, which is in France, and then there is a train to Biarritz, or you can take two buses to St. Jean de Luz and then from there to Biarritz center. The train lets you off at the train station and from there you have to catch a city bus to take you into the center of town. We became pros by the end of the trip after a shaky start on the day we arrived. And once we arrived in Biarritz we were struck by two things. The gloriousness of being by the sea and the crazy expensiveness of being in France. Apparently they don't do a lot of chicken products so eggs and chicken were crazy expensive. The cheapest eggs were 1.45 a dozen (1.05 here in spain or .99) and the chicken was between 11 and 14 euros the kilo (hmm between 2 and 7 euros a kilo here...). Produce was also off the charts with bananas being a whopping 2.40 a kilo, more than a euro more than in Spain and fruit generally being anywhere from 50 cents to a euro more expensive. No wonder the french eat so much bread and cheese. Those are the cheap bits!
And then there was being by the sea. There was the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves and the crispness of the air (when the wind blew), and the seagulls and just being able to see the sea and walk next to it was amazing. Biarrtiz is also located on a very hilly area which I had no idea and a lot of the coast is sheer cliffs down to the water with amazing beaches scattered in between. We were about 5 min walking from the Grande Plage, the Big Beach and from one of the windows in our little studio we could see the light house. Walking along the coast and running along it as the week progressed was lots of fun. There are all there little paths and stairs that go up and down the hill that take you up or down the beach or up to a vista or just around in general. Pretty much everywhere you went you had a great view of the sea and the water was really clear. you could se down to the bottom pretty far out if there wasn't a lot of wind kicking up the sand.
We made two day trips from Biarritz. One day we went to San Sebastian. I wanted Carlos to see the city because I think its beautiful and we also went because we decided to go grocery shopping there because the prices are so much cheaper. This was our lucky day. All of our transport connections worked out just right and we managed to catch the last train from Hendaye to Biarrtiz and then a night bus back into the city. We were worried for about a half hour that we would miss the train and have to spend the night in another city or pay a crazy amount of money for a taxi. Our other day trip was to Bayonne the Capital of French Basque country. That was a quick and easy bus ride from the center of town and well worth the visit. Its situated right at the fork of two rivers and is really pretty. It also has come hills and some really cool green spaces and lots of cute old houses and buildings that look like they came from post cards. We hit up the botanical garden, the Cathedral, and the Basque Museum and we wandered the streets. Apparently Bayonne is famous for its chocolate, but since we were there in the afternoon, everything was closing and we didn't get to try any. The prices are a little cheaper than in Biarritz and it has more of a lived in feel that Biarritz does. You can actually imagine people and you see people who live here instead of as in Biarritz where it seems like everyone there is a transient presence. I got a really good feeling from Bayonne and I'm glad we took the time to head over there.
It was sad to leave the French Basque country. No more ocean to play in, or to smell or to see. The water was nice at all times of the day and the tide rose and fell around 50 meters or more. The beach you were at in the morning would be completely gone in the afternoon only to reappear later. No more ice cream and pastry everyday or going for a run along the water. No more friendly funny French people who sound exactly like your stereotypical happy Frenchmen. On the other hand, it is nice to come back to normal priced food and the Menu of the day that is under 15euros with 3 courses and a drink and the familiarity of being in Madrid and the level of comfort it gives me to be home. Vacations are great, but sometimes coming home is the best part. Besides, Ill get to see the ocean at X-mas time:)
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