Easter Weekend

With there being no school on easter Monday, I decided to take an extra long weekend and meet up with some Spanish friends at the end of their Semana Santa holiday. The rendez-vous point was Biarritz, on the Atlantic coast near the Spanish border. From there, we would travel to St-Jean-de-Luz, San Sebastián and Bilbao in the space of 3 days.  Getting to Biarritz is easy. There are regular TGVs that go between Hendaye, the border town, and Bordeaux/Paris. I had been told that the city of Biarritz, was “bourgeois” but that didn’t really tell me a lot. I mean the word bourgeois, what does that mean nowadays? Was I expecting well dressed families to be strolling along the beachfront with a parasol and an ice cream? No. But I was half expecting something similar to a Nice or a Monaco. The reality wasn’t far off.

An overcast Biarritz 

Yes the town is plentiful in its supply of high-end fashion boutiques and luxuriously expensive eateries, but it does still have a pleasant seaside getaway feel to it. It’s spoilt with two incredible beaches and some stunning architecture, but it has managed to hold on to a viable destination for the average family. And with its accessibility from the Spanish side of the border, people pop by regularly to stroll along the coastal paths or just sit on the beach, ice cream in hand. After a rather expensive night on the town, with rugby players propping up the bars along the way, I took myself off for an early morning dip in the Atlantic. I realised that the looks of utter bewilderment from locals in my direction were to be expected, as the water was baltic. Perhaps its an english way of looking at things, but I was by the sea, it wasn't too cold out of the water and I hadn't been in the sea for a long time. So after 20 minutes or so tip-toeing in the shallows, I took the plunge and bathed for about 15 minutes. Ample time to shake the hangover. En route to our next stop of San Sebastián, we decided to stop for a long lunch in St-Jean-de-Luz. A lovely little beach town ten minutes down the road from Biarritz, and much calmer. We soaked up the sun, had a quick dip in the sea, which was much warmer than in Biarritz, and then moved on to Donostia-San Sebastián.

Playa de Zurriola, Donostia

 An incredible city. Billed as a surfer's paradise, I was expecting a beach resort. What I got was an incredible city with two incredible beaches. If we'd had more time in the city, I'm certain we could only have liked it more. We decided to go surfing for a few hours to work up an appetite, and that we did. There was an almighty wind battering the beach and this made the waves huge. Choppy, but huge. The rest of the afternoon was spent, on the beach, taking in more sunshine and relaxing before a few beers in the evening in one of the many Irish Pubs in Spain. The majority of Irish Pubs in Spain are to be avoided at all costs, but the fact that they are, on average, cheaper than the more typical spanish bar and the fact that they are the only places that show sport from outside of Spain, makes them a good place to visit from time to time. An early afternoon bus got us to Bilbao just in time for the Easter Sunday celebrations, which involve a huge procession through the city by marching bands and banner-carriers from all the parishes in the area. 

Easter Sunday Parade - Bilbao

The costumes shock anyone who doesn't know the story, as they are basically the same as that of the Klu Klux Klan. However, the tradition involving the costume for the Easter parade throughout all of Spain long precedes that of the Klan. Anyway, Bilbao, and in fact the Basque Country as a whole, is renowned for its fabulous gastronomy. So we felt it only right that we went for the customary pintxos before dinner. Similar to tapas, the pintxo is a finger-food that is served at every bar. What differentiates the pintxo from the tapas is that it is always served on a small slice of bread. Delicious. Pintxos, followed by dinner, followed by more beers brought the weekend to a fitting close. I had just enough time to wander around central Bilbao in the morning before a long journey home. First the luxury Alsa Supra+ bus to San Sebastián, which provides individual TV screens with plane-like entertainment libraries, and complimentary drinks. Then the shuttle train to the border town of Hendaye, where I had an hour to wait until my TGV to Bordeaux, so, in brilliant sunshine, I bought a baguette and headed to the beach.

Hendaye beach

Being a jour ferié, the transport connecting the cities to the countryside wasn't very good, and I was forced to chance my arm (literally) and try to hitch a ride from Villeneuve-sur-Lot to Fumel. Luckily after only 10 mins of thumb-brandishing, a mother and son picked me up and took me all the way home. Perfect.
Another cracking trip, made very easy by SNCF.