Taking the train to St-Jean-de-Luz (23 October 2024)

 


After nearly four weeks of driving and navigating I wanted a rest day.    One of the options was to go to Espelette where at this time of year the buildings are draped with the chillis drying.  However, that entailed more driving than I wanted to do.  The other option was to take the local train to St-Jean-de-Luz which we opted for. We took the car to Gare de Bayonne and found a convenient and parking spot. 

 

The train took us quickly to St-Jean-de-Luz, 25 minutes instead of over an hour by road.  So relaxing! 

Gare de St-Jean-de-Luz

 

St-Jean-de-Luz is a fishing village that has become a tourist town.  It is pretty, with the buildings painted white and reddish brown which seems typical of the area.  They had Les Halles where there were a number of food retailers and we called in their to see what goodies were available.  The most impressive part was the area set aside for fish.  There was very fresh fish of a number of species that I recognised the names of but have never tasted. 

Fresh fish anyone

 

We chatted with a poissonaire who had some English and was a passionate rugby follower who told us that most of the seats for Bayonne are presold as season tickets and that if we had wanted to watch a game the Biarritz team would have been good as they are in a lower league.  We bought some smoked mackerel from him. 

 

We went to have lunch at a place attached to Les Halles but discovered that most of the things were off the menu so changed venue and found another café which was very popular and had some nice food at that place.  It was nice to be able to sit outside but without shade it became quite warm. 

Our lunch place

 

The rest of the day was spent exploring the little village.  The beach was another superb long crescent that again had people sunbathing and swimming.  There was a very large barrier behind the beach which served to protect village from the ingress of the sea with it having been inundated several times in past centuries.  We wandered around the fishing port and watched a truck being loaded with seaweed that a fishing boat had just brought in. 


The beach

 

We caught the train back to Bayonne this time it was a TGV that did not go at TGV speeds of course but twenty minutes after leaving we were back in Bayonne.  

 


Basque Language

The top building houses a little café




 

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