Nearly Spain - But Not Quite

Friday 29^th August

Terrific thunderstorms during the night so we woke to a very wet campsite. After my shower and breakfast I paid the bill – a very reasonable fifty two Euros – we managed ASCI rates. We packed up and were on our way by 10.30am – not bad for us.

I drove for about three hours, then K took over for about an hour and a half, then I finished off, bringing us to the coast at Saint-Girons Plage. We stayed on a campsite aire at Les Tourterelles and went for a walk to the beach for a few hours. 

Lovely waves – a good surfers beach. The campsite is huge, so it may be as well that we are on the outskirts. We have to be away by two tomorrow, so we are hoping for good weather so we can perhaps get back to the beach. We plan to head south – maybe into Spain.

Saturday 30^th August

We arose, and spent a while getting ready to go. We left the site after twelve and a short spell later, a toll ride down the motorway, we found ourselves in St. Jean de Luz at a campsite named ‘International’ – a good site with spacious pitches, clean shower blocks, free hot showers and access almost directly to the beach, which was named ‘Erromardie’. The weather is very cloudy and quite damp.

We decided to stay for three nights. We chose our pitch, set up, and then explored the site and walked down to the beach for look around. It is a sand beach with quite a few rocks. Surfers seem prevalent again. There is a beachside restaurant which looks to be good. May try there. Back to the van for food and sleep.

Sunday 31^st August

Rose later than we had hoped and did a load of washing, which we had to put extra lines out to accommodate. After the usual ablutions etc. and waiting for the washing to be ready to be put out we went to the swimming pool and sat in the one o’clock sun without any kind of sun cream etc. We swam for a bit, and then went back to the van for lunch. After this we went to the beach and sat for a while, again, without sun protection for an hour and a bit, before succumbing to the overwhelming beat emerging from the seaside bar behind the beach (it had given me a headache), and returning to the site. Surprisingly I realised that I had become somewhat red in certain areas – more so than K, whose garden sitting adventures had prepared her somewhat more for the sun’s niceties. Sat around for a while watching the little gang of sparrows who were on the lookout for food and enjoying their dust baths.

Changing, we decided to visit the restaurant on site, as the beat from the seaside bar/restaurant hadn’t ceased. We order a starter to share of meats and cheeses from the Basque region, followed by mussels and frites for both. I had a beer, and K had a glass of rose. It was very good, and hard to finish, but we mostly managed.  It was a small celebration of K becoming free of the burden of employment after so many years. 

Monday 1^st September

Despite good intentions we didn’t get away from the van until 12.40, on the bikes, heading for St. Jean de Luz. We took lunch with us, and were looking for a nice spot to eat it. The ride was a bit up and down, some of it on gravel paths, which were a little dodgy. The promenade at St. Jean de Luz was pedestrians only, so we walked the bikes around a bit. The place was very pretty, with a sweeping bay of calm blue water. We found a slope down to the beach, and so sat and had lunch whilst watching people splashing in the water and looking in rockpools.

After about an hour or so we headed back to the site, which took about fifteen minutes. We decided to go to the pool to cool down – it was very warm at this point. A cooling swim and a little cautious sunbathing later we returned to the van. I went for a shower whilst K sat outside. I made a kind of long drink thing out of the not-very-nice ‘framboise’ wine the K had bought. It was cool (with ice), and went down quite well on a warm evening. I cooked lamb chops, potatoes and French petit pois – with a shallot and mushroom sauce. We both enjoyed this whilst listening to ‘The Last Elephant’ by Terry Pratchett.