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| The Birthday Boy in Biarritz, France |
Its Tim’s Birthday!! Woohoo! Happy Birthday Baby!
We spent last night in Bayonne, France..and there is literally a sign right outside the Formule 1 (yes, once again!.. its the cheapest, warmest, cleanest bed right now!) that reads “Spain 40 mins”.. so we were so close, but decided to stay 1 last night in France.
This morning we spent time online (for the free 30 mins we got) to update the website and then headed for Biarritz... probably the last town on the French western coast before the Spanish border. What a beautiful beach and town. It came recommended by the Tanguys (the French family I tutored for in London) as they spend most (if not all) their vacation times there. It is France meet Spain and I of course love that mixture.
There we bought a yummy fresh loaf of bread to chew on (Tim at his happiest) or for with dinner and a slice of some amazing looking tart (as Tim’s birthday cake) from a little patisserie. We made our way to the beach and tucked into the tart while I scraped together some sand for my collection. Afterwards we passed by this little street cafe and saw some REALLY cheap food.. so we decided to order some basic hot dogs and chips.. cheapest (we thought on the menu). I ordered it with my (again) broken French.. and I should’ve known that it was not going to be hot dogs when it cost less than what the menu said. Instead of hot dogs we got probably the most amazing French junkfood EVER.. it is a big loaf of bread with lettuce, tomato, 2 hot dogs, chips/fries, grilled onions and sauces on it!! We stuffed our faces for just 4.50 Euros total!! Cheap for these parts of the world.
On to Espana.. and immediately at the first tollgate with a “Merci.. Ag, I mean Gracias!” we realized that France was behind us for the time being and that we were in the European country we had most looked forward to! It was a weird feeling however, because the North of Spain (Basque Country) is not quite what we had pictured... and although the snow-capped Pyrenees mountains are absolutely beautiful, the beauty in nature is in stark contrast to the numerous factories and densely populated flat/apartment blocks. And man, do those factories stink!
We made a quick visit to the city of San Sebastian - a unique city on the shore of the Cantabrian Sea with a very prominent statue of Saint Sebastian overlooking from a hilltop - and quick because we just could not find a spot to park the Landy. All their parking garages were seemingly below ground and made for 2.3 m tall or less... we are 2.5ish. And all the above ground parking was either residential or too narrow for us. So we just drove around for a while to try and take it all in.. but it is a very cool looking city!
We made a detour into the mountains to visit the town of Guernica. This city founded in 1366 was completely destroyed on 26 April 1937 when a German air raid bombed the city for 3 straight hours (29,000 kg of explosives) as a “practice run” for their bombers. The whole city was gutted and all that remains today are an old church (Iglesia de Santa Maria) and the Casa de Juntas. Today the city is bustling with new buildings and structures.. oh and a few monuments made out of rubble from the previous buildings.
I’ve really enjoyed being able to put my little bit of Spanish to some good use. I’m a bit rusty since it has been about 3 years, but it has been like riding a bicycle again.. and little bits come back as the confidence grows. If only I can make the switch in my brain to stop starting conversations in French!!
Tonight we are spending the night in a cheap hotel in Bilbao (a trade up from the budget hostels) with Wi-Fi as a treat for Tim’s birthday. Oh and Mammie, the receptionist here at the hotel told me that Jone’ (my given name) is a very common “Basque-ian” name. Imagine that!
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