Bayonne and Biarritz for Christmas

We decided to stay at a Bed and Breakfast in the little town of Bayonne, France, for Christmas and we arrived on Christmas Eve. The owner was a very lively French woman named Sylvie. She spoke very little English but that did not stop her from spending 25 minutes showing us around our room and pointing out everything there was to do in Bayonne. She was very excited about the bowling, encouraging us to go because they had a great sound system with great music.

After she left, we were almost like little kids in a hotel room. An entire room to ourselves, with a shower and a tv. It was like Christmas. Well, it was Christmas. We ate our salami, cheese, baguette, and drank the wine all the while watching Gremlins and The Simpsons in French. (side note, the last night we were in Paris, we walked into our room to find that we had new room mates. The room was quite fragrant and we assumed that the new people weren't that into bathing or had passed some serious gas. No big deal, I just opened the window and then went to take a shower. When I got out, I found Mike laughing. He had figured out that it was our stinky cheese that we had left there in the morning that had made our room smell so badly.) Back in Bayonne, we ate some of the stinky cheese with our noses somewhat plugged. It was good but strong.

Christmas day, we got up and had breakfast with everyone else at the B&B. One of the other guests spoke English (actually an English teacher in France) and Sylvie pretty much forced this guy to sit by us. He was very nice and ended up offering us a ride into Biarritz, the coastal town next to Bayonne. We accepted and they took us up to the light house and then dropped us off next to the beach. It was spectacular, mostly because it was so warm and sunny and there was no wind. There were people surfing and by late afternoon, there were a few brave souls getting into the water. The area was full of rocks and the ocean crashed into them and this made for some wonderful pictures. We spent most of the day soaking up the sun, watching the waves get bigger as the tide came in and the ocean got angrier. After having tapas for lunch, we indulged and bought some delicious desserts from a pastry shop that boxed them up and tied on a little bow. Mike and I walked down the street, found a little bench in the sun and promptly ate them. Mine was covered in powdered sugar and Mike kept making me laugh so I, too, was covered in powdered sugar. Biarritz was a great little town next to the ocean that came alive at night with people strolling along the boardwalk, enjoying the lights and the water. Not a bad way to spend Christmas. Next day, we had breakfast with Jean Michelle and his girlfriend, Sandrine (the couple from the day before) and then we were off to catch our train to Madrid.

Photos HERE.

Calais, France and Brussels, Belgium

On the 21st, Emily´s birthday, we went by train from London to Dover, England. There, we planned to catch the ferry into Belgium, where we would catch a train to Brussels.

In Dover, we were told that it was impossible to be a foot passenger to Belgium (cars and motorcycles okay, no foot passengers, though). So, we were forced into going to Calais, France, where we were told that it would be impossible to take a train to Brussels that evening. We found a cheap hotel, and went out to a nice meal to save Emily`s birthday from being a disaster.

The next day, we were finally able (after several delays) to take the train to Brussels. That night, we went to a Belgian chocolate shop where we enjoyed delicious, expensive chocolates (and I told Emily that this could easily spell death to a diabetic), and later drank some Belgian beer. Delicious. All and all, an atypical Thanksgiving, but we weren`t complaining.

The next day, on our way to the train station, we also walked by a (supposedly) famous statue of a fountain that featured a naked little boy urinating. I kid you not, the name of it is Mannekin Pis!

Photos from Brussels HERE.