From Spain to France

May 23rd 2003

Hello Again! Lets get started then... Our last day in Spain was one of the best. It was around 32 degrees for the majority of the day and we made an early start by heading up Monte Urgull behind our pension. It was a steep walk but we made hieght in no time (an easy hike for us hardened travellers!?) We Climbed firstly to the remains of a fort and then were struck by a HUGE Jesus statue, which towers over the bay. Without praying, or further adoo, we scrambled down to a cliff-edge bar which was recommended to us by our host at Pension Amauir! After a jug of Sangria we headed down the Mount to the Aquarium where we took a visit and then headed, for a walk along the sea front! The bay was beautiful and our walk took us along the beach and then up high again to an English style garden with views over the bay and the Island! After several explorational hours, it was time for tea, and we scoffed two well deserved baguettes! After this we brought two bottles of wine, perched on the beach and watched the sun go down until the early hours! After an early start we headed (rather reluctantly) towards France, away from our much loved bay! The journey was a bit of a mish-mash, taking us to random places, but we got there eventually and dumped our cases in our mediocre hotel outside the station. On exploring Bayonne that afternoon, we concluded that although the town was nice enough, we weren't especially inspired by the place. So we went shopping for a while then got an early night. Day two and on to Biarritz. Although the weather forcast was grim, we were egar to explore this beach resort popular with surfing types. However, only 10minutes after our arival, havvock broke out in the form of a mighty storm which, kindly, proceeded to sabotage my swish lightweight umbrella, and soak us to the bone! We found a cafe on the seafront and jumped in for warmth above anything! After a few coffees and a few baguettes we headed back out (yes into the rain) to perhaps find the sea life centre perched on top of the hill. On reaching this we were relived by the escape from the weather --was England haunting us from all this way??! We didnt care that we hade just been to an aquarium two days previous - we just wanted out of the wet, and it turned out the centre had a little more to offer too - Seals and all ;) Then we headed to another Cafe (for more coffe) where we perched for several hours! - Yes, the rain was that bad!! humm! What a waste, this was SUPPosed to be our beach day!! c'uh! ok, our last day in this Pyranee-region of France and we headed to St-Jean-de-Luz, which turned out to be a bit of a hidden Peach! The cutesy town with its beach was very picturesaue, and allot less touristy, as many of our favoured places had been. Unfortunatly, the day was muggy (again), but not as bad as the previous day - so we explored the town, wooly clothed, knowing that the beach was unlimited for that day! We walked through the squares and narrow streets of the town and then into Ciboure, a village further along the coast - only 10m walk! It was not as nice as St Jean; a bit of a "sea-bore" (see what Rich did there??). Hunmmm, anyways that was our day in St-Jean, maybe we'll return soon on a sunny day?? Next day and we ventured on to Bordeaux, which followed only a short one-hour TGV Journey. After finding our hotel, another vv close to the station, we settled down in this nice but cheap accomodation then headed out to explore! We knew that the Station/our hotel were a few km south of the city centre, but we were not affraid to walk. That was until we realised what sort of seedy area we had to walk through! We won't give away too much apart from the fact that it wasn't very nice, and were pleaed to arrive in the city out of this area - vowing to take the bus on further trips!! The city itself is unfortunatly currently under construction, due to a tram system being installed. Which we had been pre-warned about by another traveller doing an opposite route! However, the city we could see was still really pretty with loads to see and explore!After an afternoon of full blown exploration we headed back after our tea in the city (by bus)! Day 2 and we ventured to Perigeaux, in the Dordogne region of France. The journey was pretty (although on a bit of an old train), and we arrived under two hours. After walking through a rather run down area of town we explored a few out-of-town ruins. These included an Ampitheatre (or remains of), a chateau and a watch tower. We then headed into the old town which was gorgeous! After a full day of criss-crossing the narrow streets we headed back to the station. Wednesday, today, we have plans to visit a Chateau for some local wine tasting and onto St-Emilion! Our Coach (eek coach tour), picks us up at 1:30 - think of us sampling the fine wines of Bordeaux in a few hours..umm, the life! And as you can see our morning consists of an update and a bit of town browsing. Hope you've all enjoyed the update! Stay Safe and see you all in just over 2 weeks!! Love Katie xxx

Listed by : Katie

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