TRAVELLING NORTH

DAY 1: A family straw poll voted for a holiday trip to Paris - France, not Texas - so we loaded up Rocinante and headed north on the A1 with Madrid's chilly 4C fading in the rear vision mirror. It's a 2 hour drive due north to Burgos, an ideal lunch stopover. We passed over the Sierra de Guadarrama, which had surprisingly little snow coverage, and through gloriously manicured farmland that resembled on of those tapestry quilts that grandmothers make.

Burgos Cathedral

I couldn't help noticing that Rocinante's external temperature guage had gone down to 1C as the steeple of Burgos' magnificent gothic cathedral came into view (Spanish travel tip: you can tell when you are approaching a town, as even the smallest village has a cathdral of epic proportions, that can be seen from 20 kilometres away). As we looked for a car park, we couldn't help notice that the people in the streets were all rugged up like Cossacks; as it turns out, for good reason. It was bitterly cold, and we wasted no time in very quickly checking out the cathedral before heading into Viva la Pepa for a hot brewand sammich. The cathedral was spectacular, but it's not going anywhere so we shall visit it again in warmer clime. Astroll back to the car took us along the river promenade and through the extraordinary canopy created by the platanos de sombra, better known as plane trees (a relative of the sycamore); quite amazing.


Showing Buzz How To Spin A Top

Platanos de Sombra

Off we headed, through yet more glorious countryside, aiming for the French border and the western extremes of the Pyrenees and Basque country. As we approached Vitoria-Gasteiz, the highway signs became a guessing game and Rocinante inadvertently headed into town instead of the bypass; forty minutes later, we had managed to finally escape and head for San Sebastian. I'm serious, the signs were a disgrace, and to prove it I did exactly the same thing on the return journey! As dusk approached, so too did Donosita-San Sebastian; we are saving D-SS for a later trip. (Travel tip: It can be quite dangerous driving through the region. When you're sitting on 130kph, it's best to keep your eyes on the road and not be taken in by the mesmerising scenery! Better to head to the slow lane and enjoy the wonderful vistas - it is sa superb region). We filled up Rocinante (at 1.34 euro/litre) before crosing the border into Francais.


Near Briviesca

Bayonne Cathedral

We had been warned previously, and now confronted the reality; just before the border was a tollway that cost us 1 euro; immediately upon hitting French soil we were on another (French administerd) tollway that depsite being half the distance was 3 times the cost. As we were soon to find out, France is the home of tollways and with a monopoly private ownership, they are VERY expensive. We reached our destination of Bayonne around 7.00pm and checked into the Hotel Loreak for a no frills sleepover (85 euro for a non-smoking room that reeked of stale cigarettes!). A quick trip into Bayonne for dinner and an evening stroll rounded out our day.

Biarritz Promenade

DAY 2: Bayonne is only 8 km from the famous seaside resort of Biarritz, once the playground of the royalty and the aristocracy, but now even allowing the LegsyBoys On Tour into town. Let's get this on the table now - Biarritz is magnificent; it is deserving of more than the 4 hours we spent there. After finding a stable for Rocinante, we walked through the narrow streets down to the main promenade and seaside walk. Despite being a fine day, there was a constant haze in the air. Never mind, we found a promenade cafe and waited to place our breakfast order....and waited....and waited. Someone in our party 'cracked it' - alright, it was moi (see how easily I switch from Spanish to French) - and so we got up and left to test the service level at the cafe next door. Our order was obligingly taken and so we sat and absorbed the beauty of the place - the wide golden sandy beach, the architecture, the rocky outcrops of the shoreline, the rolling waves and the cavalcade of passers by....this is more like it. The bill came and I contemplated a second mortgage to cover it! (Travel tip: we had been warned, but France can be VERY expensive - yes, I've already said that, especially when coming from south of the border. The cost of a coffee has just gone up 150%!!).

Three Not So Lucky Seafarers

The Virgin On The Rock

And so we did as everybody else does and strolled the promenade around to the headland, heading out to the Virgin On The Rock, which is exactly what it sounds like. The statue is on a rocky outcrop that is connected to the mainland by a bridge designed by Gustav Eiffel (yep, THAT  engineer) and is there to bless the fisherman who use the port - a rock formation with 3 crosses on it would suggest that it did a fat lot of good for a few unfortunates. The sea pounded against the retaining wall and rocks, covering the kids in seapray - they loved it! Afterwards, we headed Maison Paries (1 Place Bellevue), famous for several local delicacies; this tiny pattisserie has been going for over 100 years and we sampled the famous Basque Gateau (a vanilla butter cake filled with pastry cream...mmmmm, mmm!) and purchased a selection of Kanouga (a specialty choc-caramel bon bon that was created in 1905 for the visiting Russian nobility!). Before bidding adieu to the Cote des Basques, we wished to have a picnic lunch overlooking the rolling waves but sadly, we found ourselves at a roadside travel stop an hour later as we couldn't find a park in the town or its surrounds!

Maison Paries - Kanouga!

Iconic Biarritz

With full stomachs the front seat passengers steeled themselves for the 4 hour drive to our overnight destination. The back seat was becoming stir crazy as we bypassed Bordeaux (another time perhaps), but salvation was around the corner in the shape of an Esso Roadhouse. We just had to stop at this archealogical phenomenon, so we freshended up and took onboard provisions (icre creams and potato chips - what else!) for the final 2 hours. It was dark when we reached the Hotel Come Inn (seriously), checked our bags and whipped up th eroad for a meal (Liam polishing off his 2nd adult sized steak in 2 days!). After los ninos resolved their diferences over who got the top bunk in the double bed, we retired for a well earned rest.

Prehistoric Relic