We left Gavarnie on a very wet morning (Thursday, October 1) with very low cloud so we decided against visiting other cols en route as we wouldn’t see anything!
Our first stop was Pau to see the chateau and the medieval town. Naturally, the chateau was shut for lunch when we arrived but we could wander around the outside of it before exploring the city itself.
It was a long driving day as our destination was the Dune de Pilat near Biscarrosse, not that far south of Bordeaux. We had planned to visit it last year but the weather had turned so we changed our plans. The dune itself is 100m above sea level and covers an extraordinary area. We parked up and walked to the top of it. Photos don’t do it justice regarding the sheer scale of it.
We then drove onto our park up for the night which was a Camping Car Park aire (P4N#3694), nestled in a pine forest less than ten minutes to Les Viviers beach. It was so idyllic that we booked in for an extra night.
The next day we drove up to Arcachon to catch the ferry to Cap Ferret. It took us the best part of an hour to find somewhere to park that would allow us to stay for more than two hours. Nightmare. Finally, found a spot outside of town and cycled to the ferry port. Caught the midday ferry over, (where bikes are put on top of the boat!) and then cycled up to the village of L’Herbe to have oysters and crevettes for lunch at a seafood shack, Chez Guillaume, washed down with a wee glass of wine. Although Cap Ferret isn’t an island, it sure feels like one – Ile de Re meets Nantucket. Great cycle paths and upmarket shops in the main town of Bélisaire.
After lunch we cycled down to Cap Ferret point but the dune was closed to visitors so we cycled back to the lighthouse and climbed its 200 plus steps to the top. We were rewarded with fantastic views of the dune.
Back to our camping car park aire to watch another sunset with a beer.
The next morning, Liz’s cold was getting worse so we had a leisurely morning chilling before leaving our campsite just before 14.00 to drive 86 miles to Ondres Municipal Camping Car Aire (P4N#132008), just north of Bayonne and right on the beach. This cheered Liz up being next to a beach.
On Sunday, October 4, we had tickets to the refurbished Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne as all museums are free to entry on the first Sunday of every month. We drove the short distance to Bayonne around 10.00 and managed to find a place to park near the station on the northern side of the river. It was incredibly busy for a Sunday morning so we were very lucky to find a space.
Bayonne has an interesting history, having been around since at least Roman times. There are still Roman towers around the town that were converted into homes, one of them known as the Executioner’s House!It is the French Basque capital and was once even under English control after Eleanor of Aquitaine’s marriage to Henry II. It was a lovely city to wander round and we popped into the Basque museum that ensured that the Basque culture, history and traditions were recorded. Bayonne became famous for its chocolatiers as Jews fled to the city following their expulsion from Spain in 1492 bringing their chocolate making skills with them. The Bonnat-Helleu museum had a number of masters’ paintings in there, including Constable, Reynolds, Degas as well as Léon Bonnat himself. Overall, though, it was slightly underwhelming. Bizarrely, the cathedral is known for its two steeples, only one of which is kept clean!
We then drove onto Biarritz some 30 minutes away on the coast, still very much in the Basque region. We didn’t know quite what to expect as reviews had differed. We found a lovely seaside town that was once very glamorous but now was still quite sweet mixed with lots of surfing dudes as the waves and beaches were perfect for it The town was very busy on a Sunday afternoon but definitely not motorhome friendly as we had to park over a mile away from the town centre as all the main car parks had height restrictions. We enjoyed the mix of art deco and early 20th century architecture with promenade walks and sandstone rock formations. We even found the chocolatier, Miremont, where Queen Victoria apparently loved their caramels.
We left Biarritz around 18.30 as we needed to find somewhere to stay for the night and had no plan! Again, a number of places had height restrictions or low bridges. We eventually found a lovely campsite, Camping Soubelet (P4N#201165), near Guethary, right by the Mayarco beach that both had space, was open at 19.30 and was charging less than €20. Once parked up we quickly walked to the Ti Cabanon beach bar and had an incredible meal of Moules Marinière and squid risotto whilst watching a lovely sunset.
Miles since last blog: 357
Miles this trip: 2,295
