CHAPTER 16. SOUTH WEST FRANCE CONT.

In Oleron we are up early and spend most of the morning at the laverie, washing and drying clothes. They don’t get all the way dry so we spread them out in the rear seat and under the rear window of the car; in the hot sun this finishes the drying. We drive south then west, stopping for a very excellent lunch menu at the Pont d’Abense R. It is a sunny and hot day; we see many people in shorts, and even turn the car’s air conditioning on. This is Basque country; the hills are pretty and green with pastures, trees, streams, and many sheep. We go north and west to St. Jean Pied-de-Port where we find a 3 day old Herald Tribune, which we buy. (In the not so popular tourist areas of France the Herald Tribune isn’t always available). We drive north to Cambo-les-Bains and stay at the Bellevue Hotel, where we admire a large azalea bush in full bloom.

It is overcast and cooler as we drive west to St. Jean de Luz at the ocean; it is very pretty with a breakwater protecting a large bay, and an inner harbor with strictly fishing or working boats. We eat at the Vieille Aubergue R., having a good fish soup with chunks of fish and muscles in shell, a fish meuniere entree, and a Basque gateau for dessert. We drive west along the Corniche Basque, stopping at the outer breakwater to watch a scuba diving class; there are many in wet suits and flippers. At Hendaye there is a nice sand beach and a sailing race underway. We look across the bay and see the Fuenterrabia Parador in Spain where we stayed in 1975.

We return up the coast and find the Penelope Hotel at Ilbarritz on the ocean between Bidart and Biarritz. We have a nice big bedroom and a small sun room with a table and a view over the ocean. We stay two nights as a base to see some of Bayonne and Biarritz the next day.

We drive to Bayonne and park in an underground garage, then walk to the cathedral. There are very large and open cloisters. The cathedral has wide side bays and is well lighted with beautiful stained glass windows. We next see the very interesting Basque Museum with exhibits of costumes, furniture, farm and home imple-ments, boats, games, churches, etc., etc. On into the fog at Biarritz and stop to see the Rocher de la Virgin where there are many tourists and tour busses. We go to St. Jean and have a good look at the Basque Church. We keep looking for the Herald Tribune but haven’t seen one for several days.