Biarritz to Mundaka

Picked up Lucy from the airport and stayed a couple more nights in Biarritz.  Had a bit of an issue as picked Lucy up fairly late and by the time we'd made it back to where we'd planned to stay it was full.  So ended up having to drive a bit further out and finding a layby to pull into for the night.  I'm not certain but I suspect it doubled as a dogging and horse rustling area, there were certainly a lot of odd noises and comings and goings through the night.

The following morning went back into Biarritz and parked in an Aire near the beach for the next day and night.  Had a nice time exploring again and lying on the beach.

Unfortunately this all coincided then with the slow arrival of a huge storm, so the next couple of nights in St. Jean de Luz were quite overcast and menacing.  But nonetheless we were treated to an aerial display from the French equivalent of the red arrows and got to explore a very pretty little seaside town.  Our last stop in France.

Next crossed the border through hammering rain and masses of lightning and aimed for the first Spanish town which is the amazing San Sebastian.  On Mike's recommendation got to fully appreciate the tapas ('pxintos' in Basque) which thankfully has become a recurring theme further into Spain!  San Sebastian may have stolen the crown of favourite place yet from Biarritz.  This despite the hammering rain, the urgent need to learn more Spanish and the complete lack of surfable waves.

From San Sebastian progressed on to a quiet little seaside resort called Orio.  Fortunately the sun came back to us for some quality beach time, unfortunately still no waves though!  Did a whole load of long overdue washing at the campsites facilities and I had a nice little hike climbing Kukuarri, a 360m-ish tall mountain alongside the coast.

Lucy has managed to find us a set of Points of Interest for the sat nav which tell us where to find Aires (car parks specifically for campervans) and free camping spots in Spain.  So we took advantage to stay at Lekeitio for a couple of nights.  Had a fun evening experiencing the Spanish love of football.  Following a practically day long fiesta where even the dogs wore Atletico Bilbbao shirts, Barcelona thrashed Bilbao 3-0 to win the final.

Met this little fella on the beach at Lekitio

I'm doing my best to improve my Spanish but am presently finding the Basque region is fighting me.  All their signs are written twice.  It's a bit like being in Wales but without knowing English.

So the latest travelling has been to spend 3 nights in Mundaka (where I'm writing this).  We went via Guernica and popped into the museum for peace.  Guernica got bombed by Franco with the help of Germany during Spains civil war.  Quite a harrowing, indiscriminate and perplexing story and a very thought provoking museum.

This whole area of Spain is very beautiful, the drives have been lovely going up and down hills through woodland with constant glimpses of the ocean and huge vistas across valleys.  Mundaka is kind of the pinnacle of that as the village is lovely with some great views across the estuary.  Unfortunately no signs of the worlds best left breaking waves this place is famous for (unless you're a squirrel I suppose - then those 0.5ft waves would probably be head high).

So now we continue west, next stop Bilbao and the Guggenheim then slowly on toward Llanes where we meet Lucy's parents for a few nights on the tail end of their holiday.

A couple of little updates:

1. The beard is bushy and beyond the itchy stage.  Its growth appears to have slowed as it becomes "fuller".  Not sure I like it.
2. After a months Internet amnesty we're now fully connected with Vodafone pay as you go mobile broadband.
3. The Internet has paved the way for 80 Spanish words to be planted in Memrise.  20 a day and maybe in a few more months I'll get the hang of it!
4. I'm back to work on a pet project: https://sourceforge.net/projects/jizz/.

More photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861908863978130881?authkey=CMi0k9rHyIXNYQ

Paris to Biarritz

View RotR: Paris to Biarritz in a larger map

Howdy all.  I do hope you're all well.  I have been writing the odd bits and pieces offline on the trusty iPhone but have sorely failed to get online and post anything.  So starting afresh on the laptop in a bar in Bidart, here goes.

Paris to Biarritz in one entry (sans photo's - they'll have to come later when I sort that bit of it out - *edit - photos now added!*).  Oh yeah - all apart from the following I took in the gay district of Paris specially for Mark "Bear" Speed.  Mark - I looked for you inside but couldn't get through the crowd of sweaty men.

I'll try and be concise.

Started off in the UK to test drive everything and say cheerio to the folks.  No problems (more on that later) so we did Bristol, bought a roof box and visited Joe, Rox and Edna.  After their kind hospitality headed to Birmingham to see my brother and family (and fitted the roof box).  Then on to Stafford (Lucy's family), Alton Towers, then Leicester (my parents).

Finally did a long drive to Dover to grab a ferry to Calais.  A tip here.  Always buy your ferry ticket online and in advance.  Turns out it's twice as expensive to just rock up!  So bought a ticket for the next day online and camped in Dover.

Next long drive was the Dover Calais crossing then on to Versailles.  We had pre-booked a campsite for 4 nights near to a train station with easy access to Paris.  Had a great time exploring the palaces of Versailles, the Louvre, Bear's Den, etc., etc.

Next stop the Loire valley and a night in our first Aire de Camping Car (sometimes free, always cheap, always a car park, occasionally with mains hookup) in a little village not far from Orleans (forgot the name unfortunately).  The next day continued south toward Limoges - we did see a chateaux somewhere but the weather wasn't up to much so we kind of rocketed on in search of the sun.  The only moment of note was my trying to describe the odd noise the van was making to a French mechanic!  Not pretty.  Anyway - his diagnosis was "pas grave" so on we plough.

We then motored south of Limoges to the Dordogne and Sarlat-la-Canéda via Montignon through some biblical storms. Fortunately the sun came out for us to then go down a cave and see some convincingly faked cave paintings at Lascaux II. Lascaux I is 200m away and closed to the public due to some kind of ideals of preservation. The 50 year old copies of 17,000 year old cave paintings were good, probably better than the Mona Lisa. Bit of a chicken an egg, painting and art.

Stayed in a really nice campsite just outside Sarlat.  Did some washing and cycled the 2km to Sarlat's medieval centre up and down hills a la Plymouth but in scorching sunshine.   Beautiful place and great for a beer in the sun.

Moved on a fair bit again this time west toward Bordeaux.  Stopped off at the awesome chateau Beynon (photo below).  Oddly this used to be British land in King Richard's time.  It's incredible, perched on a cliffside overlooking the Dordogne (river).  We then stopped the night in another car park in Saint-Émilion.  We'd originally planned to stay in Bergerac but turns out it's a bit poop.  Saint-Émilion is yet another stunning medieval town surrounded by vineyards.  For those who like their wines they'll have heard of this place.  Can't comment on the wine as we're rigidly sticking to our sub-4 euro bottles.  Again photos to follow, but worth googling "Saint-Émilion" to get the idea.

We then motored on to the Gironde (a giant sand bank west of Bordeaux).  Stayed a few nights next to lakes and next to the sea.  Sun, sand and surf.  That's what I'm talking about!

So then onto where I am now.  Lucy has sadly had to fly back to the UK to attend a funeral leaving me on my own around Biarritz.  She's back tomorrow and we'll do some more exploring.  But I have to say Biarritz is easily the highlight of the trip so far.  If you get the chance fly here for a week (Lucy can tell you the Ryanair flights to/from Biarritz airport are dirt cheap).  I've been surfing, explored on the old bicycle, done a bit of shopping and am now sat in a bar in Bidart having a beer and typing this.  Highlight has to have been cycling back from the cinema last night (I went to see Dark Shadows - so so, bit poor really) and seeing the beaches of Biarritz set off by a background of the Pyrenees, the sun setting out to sea and the lights of Saint Sebastien on the Spanish coast.  Next stop Spain! :-)

Love you all.  Ralph.

More Photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/101454232293966616010/albums/5861908235063304753?authkey=CK76w4Wp1MWn-wE