Biarritz

We went to Biarritz, France last weekend, which was just a quick train ride across the boarder from Spain. It is really amazing that even though San Sebastian and Biarritz are so close, they are so very different, and it is very clear that when you are in San Sebastian you are in Spain and when you are in Biarritz you are in France. The second we crossed the boarder, we didn't hear a word of Spanish, and the whole atmosphere was different. I absolutely adore Biarritz. There isn't a city of France that I haven't fallen in love with yet, and Biarritz definitely won me over immediately. The first time around, when we made a stop before heading to San Sebastian, we had our big bulky backpacks full of all of our belongings, it was slightly cold and rainy and we spent a short amount of time there. This time around, the weather was glorious - warm and sunny, but a little breezy and we got to see much more. It is a rather small town, covered in big, blue and pink hydrangea flowers, filled with the French bistros and little soap boutiques that I adore, surfers, surf shops and the language that I love to hear but don't understand a word of. Although I am getting better at saying, "bonjour", and "merci". We relished in a fantastic lunch in a little sandwich shop, where the owner took our order and made sure our food was perfect. He was so kind, and you could tell he was the type of person who takes real pride in the food he makes. When I asked to add mustard to my sandwich, he said, "with chicken?!" I gave an embarrassed look and said, "no?" He smiled and said he would put a delicious sauce of his own on my sandwich, and I would love it. I ordered a cold sandwich with chicken, egg and lettuce, and his special sauce, on a whole, huge, soft, buttery baguette, and I did love it. After lunch we shopped around, I tried on a million sunglasses that I could never afford, and smelled all the pretty and luscious soaps and potpourri that I couldn't resist as we walked by, then we went to the beach where Sean surfed and I watched. Tons of French surfers filled the bright waters, but I could always spot Sean amongst them all far out there. As the sun went down, we grabbed a cool, fresh, raspberry-banana smoothie, which you definitely wouldn't find anything like anywhere in Spain or Italy. Biarritz was bright, friendly, lively and clean and we had a lovely day. We are tempted to move up that way next month, but would seriously need to learn some French, besides my whole 2 word vocabulary!