My plan today was to explore St Jean de Luz with Annie and get some lunch, and get the local train to Biarritz. Best laid plans, etc. . .
I took my time this morning, as I was expecting to meet up with Annie just before lunch to spend the best part of the day in St Jean de Luz. But when I wandered over to her van, she had abandoned the plan because it was too late in the day. Oh well. We did a run of rubbish up to the big bins near reception.
I got up to the road in good time to get a bus. The coach came along at the right time, and I stepped on and asked for St Jean de Luz. The driver beckoned me closer to him. After the exchange of some embarrassingly bad French on my part, it turned out that the fare was only two euros, and so I got on and took a seat on a very comfortable coach that had only one other person on it.
The coach went via the funny little village we'd passed on the way in (Socoa), and then around the coast through Ciboure.
In St Jean de Luz, I got off at Halt Routiere, and went under the underpass to the train station. Turned out that the local trains weren't running that day (no idea why), and the SNCF trains weren't really frequent enough to fill me with confidence that I could get back.
So I went back to the other side, and decided to get some lunch and think about what to do. I went into the market building. There were only a few stalls open as it wasn't full market day, but I got a quiche for lunch, and wandered the streets.
It felt very much like a cafe culture place - quite laid back. I found my way to the beach, which was beautiful, and not very busy. Again they had diving pontoons out on the water. I wandered to the right along the boardwalk, and got an ice cream in the middle of all the restaurants. I kept walking to the far side of the bay, up a small, grassy hill with a white building on it. There wasn't much to see there, but the view was very good.
I wended my way back to Halt Routiere via the back streets, and looked up the buses to the La Rhune train for the next day. I noticed that a bus went to Biarritz too. So I waited for the next bus to come along, which really wasn't long - they seemed relatively frequent, and were much cheaper than the SNCF trains. It was a busy bus, and took a fairly circuitous route. I had two choices: get off at La Negresse, or at the airport. The bus didn't really go any closer to town than that.
I chose La Negresse. That meant I had to walk for 3.5 km to get to the beach. It was hot, and I'd had enough of walking by the time I got to the sea. The walk was fairly uninteresting, but at least it was mostly downhill. I hit the shiny touristy shops, and a nice art deco theatre. I bought a crepe from a nice lady in a cafe in a beachy street, and continued to a beautiful little bay. I had a comfort stop, and continued around the coast, via some very interesting rocky outcrops with walkways out to them. I finally rounded the last corner and saw the main beach strip, with its tantalisingly art deco buildings (which aren't art deco at all when you get close).
On the way around, I stopped for a look in the cathedral. You really don't expect to see a cathedral that close to the sea. It was beautiful, and has boats suspended from the ceiling. Outside again, I went down onto the sand and had a wander. The buildings on the seafront were very grand, and there was what looked like a proper chateau at the far end. Amazing place.
I was tired and hot, and so decided to call it a day, and get a bus back up to La Negresse instead of walking. I went up past the pool complex (very grand) and followed the buses to where they stop. I'd overheard an Australian man and his son on the beach, and we ended up on the same street. He asked me in French for the time, and I told him in English. We had a chat - it was a nice human moment. The little boy was very sweet.
I stopped in a shop to rehydrate with a large bottle of iced tea, and waited for the next bus, trying to keep my burnt legs and feet out of the sun. I got on and got my ticket, and took a seat. I got off at the train station (which was obviously just as far away from the town as the bus) and walked around the corner to the bus stop.
I had quite a long wait. It was well after 5pm by now. I got on the very full bus, and (after trying to make the internet work on my phone to find a sensible meeting place, and failing) arranged to meet Christian at St Jean de Luz station. We met up no problem.
We had arranged to have our own dinner in the van tonight, and to do some wedding planning, but after the short drive back to Hendaye, and throwing together all the tasty things I'd bought in Lidl for dinner, we just relaxed. It was a nice evening. I think we had an early night.
I took my time this morning, as I was expecting to meet up with Annie just before lunch to spend the best part of the day in St Jean de Luz. But when I wandered over to her van, she had abandoned the plan because it was too late in the day. Oh well. We did a run of rubbish up to the big bins near reception.
I got up to the road in good time to get a bus. The coach came along at the right time, and I stepped on and asked for St Jean de Luz. The driver beckoned me closer to him. After the exchange of some embarrassingly bad French on my part, it turned out that the fare was only two euros, and so I got on and took a seat on a very comfortable coach that had only one other person on it.
The coach went via the funny little village we'd passed on the way in (Socoa), and then around the coast through Ciboure.
In St Jean de Luz, I got off at Halt Routiere, and went under the underpass to the train station. Turned out that the local trains weren't running that day (no idea why), and the SNCF trains weren't really frequent enough to fill me with confidence that I could get back.
So I went back to the other side, and decided to get some lunch and think about what to do. I went into the market building. There were only a few stalls open as it wasn't full market day, but I got a quiche for lunch, and wandered the streets.
It felt very much like a cafe culture place - quite laid back. I found my way to the beach, which was beautiful, and not very busy. Again they had diving pontoons out on the water. I wandered to the right along the boardwalk, and got an ice cream in the middle of all the restaurants. I kept walking to the far side of the bay, up a small, grassy hill with a white building on it. There wasn't much to see there, but the view was very good.
I wended my way back to Halt Routiere via the back streets, and looked up the buses to the La Rhune train for the next day. I noticed that a bus went to Biarritz too. So I waited for the next bus to come along, which really wasn't long - they seemed relatively frequent, and were much cheaper than the SNCF trains. It was a busy bus, and took a fairly circuitous route. I had two choices: get off at La Negresse, or at the airport. The bus didn't really go any closer to town than that.
I chose La Negresse. That meant I had to walk for 3.5 km to get to the beach. It was hot, and I'd had enough of walking by the time I got to the sea. The walk was fairly uninteresting, but at least it was mostly downhill. I hit the shiny touristy shops, and a nice art deco theatre. I bought a crepe from a nice lady in a cafe in a beachy street, and continued to a beautiful little bay. I had a comfort stop, and continued around the coast, via some very interesting rocky outcrops with walkways out to them. I finally rounded the last corner and saw the main beach strip, with its tantalisingly art deco buildings (which aren't art deco at all when you get close).
On the way around, I stopped for a look in the cathedral. You really don't expect to see a cathedral that close to the sea. It was beautiful, and has boats suspended from the ceiling. Outside again, I went down onto the sand and had a wander. The buildings on the seafront were very grand, and there was what looked like a proper chateau at the far end. Amazing place.
I was tired and hot, and so decided to call it a day, and get a bus back up to La Negresse instead of walking. I went up past the pool complex (very grand) and followed the buses to where they stop. I'd overheard an Australian man and his son on the beach, and we ended up on the same street. He asked me in French for the time, and I told him in English. We had a chat - it was a nice human moment. The little boy was very sweet.
I stopped in a shop to rehydrate with a large bottle of iced tea, and waited for the next bus, trying to keep my burnt legs and feet out of the sun. I got on and got my ticket, and took a seat. I got off at the train station (which was obviously just as far away from the town as the bus) and walked around the corner to the bus stop.
I had quite a long wait. It was well after 5pm by now. I got on the very full bus, and (after trying to make the internet work on my phone to find a sensible meeting place, and failing) arranged to meet Christian at St Jean de Luz station. We met up no problem.
We had arranged to have our own dinner in the van tonight, and to do some wedding planning, but after the short drive back to Hendaye, and throwing together all the tasty things I'd bought in Lidl for dinner, we just relaxed. It was a nice evening. I think we had an early night.
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