Biarritz (20 October 2024)

 


The initial plan had been to stay in Biarritz.  However, with Graham doing the trip with us we needed a two bedroom place with parking and Bayonne turned out to be a better option.  Bev found our very nice place in Bayonne.

 

I had imagined that Bayonne and Biarritz were two quite separate towns.  I was very wrong, Perhaps some time ago they were but now they joined together with housing all the way to the coast. Maybe it is just ribbon development but I suspect not completely.

 

Biarritz was a surprise.  I had seen pictures of a beach but had no idea about the grandeur of the coastline.  Parking was difficult to find and I kept going along the coast road until fortuitously I found a car park.  It was at the top of cliff with views all the way to Spain.  The weather was glorious and warm. 


 

On the beach there were people learning to surf and a few intrepid souls who had some skills trying out their luck on the waves. 

 

Bev and Graham went for a walk along the beach dipping their feet in the water while I kept an eye on their things.  We then walked around the coast enjoying a rather interesting coastline that was dominated by cliffs and little bays.  There was a small anchorage for boats that had probably been a fishing port in near past. 

Dipping their feet in the Atlantic

 
Surf school

Eventually we made it into the town itself where we found a place to have a late lunch.  The main shopping area was beautifully presented being very tidy and mostly pedestrianised or at least for most pedestrians had the right of way. 

 

The Grand Plage (main beach) was a lovely expanse of sand that was a similar colour to the cliffs a sort of red/brown.  By then we were ready to head back.  In the hour and half that we had been away the tide had come in on surfing beach and what had been a large expanse of sand was now covered with water meaning the surf school could no longer operate. 

Grand Plage Biarritz


Despite being close to Bayonne the return journey took us about half an hour due mostly to rarely going faster than about 40 kph.  Our Transport Minister would be apoplectic with the number of roundabouts and traffic calming measures, namely speed bumps.  Nonetheless for the most part the traffic flowed well. 

 

Vieux Port

The tide is in





Posing for a camera

Some pictures taken on our walk

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