Down the coast

 

Another pre dawn start. And chilly! Car beeped at us 4 degrees… We started off in the rich and gorgeous streets of Le Pyla with villas and grand houses each one with a lane down to the sea. A final peep across to the Cap Ferret light, blinking in the dawn pink sky and a look across to the somewhat scorched Dune du Pyla. Unsurprisingly we found the road under the dune completely closed off so had to weave our way inland before rejoining the coast. Very pretty though - smart villages bustling with life. In fact actually everywhere is a bit too busy! Holiday season definitely extending and civic works everywhere. 

We popped  down to a few beach spots for a walk and experience the sun and waves. Resolutely turning our cameras away from the urban horrors behind…apartment blocks, restaurant complexes etc. 

Must have been lovely before tourism! But the endless stretch of golden sand from The Gironde to Spain, and the pounding glittery waves is compensation for pretty much anything.

By 11 it was hot again and we stopped off just north of Bayonne at a relatively quiet spot with only two cafés and no buildings to eat our sandwiches on the sand. Bayonne - ah, lovely town. Graphic Basque architecture reminiscent of Rennie Macintosh - all straight bars and strong colours. Smart black electric bendy buses, old bridges across the river, Twin spire cathedral. Love it. But we didn’t stop this time. St Jean/Ciboure called and the driver was getting tired.

St Jean is heaving so we are not planning to hit town this time. Instead we have a panoramic view of the port from our room on the 5th floor plus a direct bird’s eye look down onto the railway where a TGV has just crawled past. Probably just saunter along into Ciboure - a mere hundred or so metres and quieter.

I have done a google photo album that will be updated daily with snaps of places and things of interest

France Autumn photos 22