Biarritz, 2015 – Day 5, Return Home…

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Overnight the campsite experienced what can only be described as a deluge.

Sleep was difficult as the rain hammered on the van. Miraculously for it’s age, the van remained almost watertight.

Not the awning though.

Overnight mud damage

Overnight mud damage

It’s now 17:28 Central European time and am on board the Eurostar, destination London.

 

Biarritz, 2015 – Day 2 to 4, St Jean de Luz..

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Accommodation was the 5 star caravan, chez Monsieur Bell. The caravan is vintage 1995 and doesn’t look a day over 25 years old. The good news is that a newer model will surely be available for next year before chez Bell becomes a mass of tangled plywood on a French autoroute…

Vintage '95

Vintage ’95

Friday was a beautiful day on the south west shores of France and a very relaxing day was followed by a cycle ride early evening to the harbour at Guethray. A couple of beers overlooking the bay and then back to Tamaris Plage and a fine fish bbq.

Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Saturday and the nice weather had departed leaving a somewhat grey and cooler day. The copious amounts of rain forecast fortunately didn’t appear and we were able to cycle to St Jean de  Luz in the afternoon and a fine dinner at a basque restaurant in the evening.

St Jean De Luz

St Jean De Luz

Sunday we walked to Guethray and then caught the RER train to Hendaye and then the Metro to San Sebastian. A good and fortuitous decision not to drive as a major wine festival was in full flow. Luch was a beer and tapas at a local hostelry.

Lunch

Lunch

Wine Festival

Wine Festival Donostia

Evening dinner was at the local pizza restaurant.

 

Biarritz, 2015 – Day 1, Travel to Biarritz the long way, Part I…

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There’s a small question mark over the inclusion of this trip in the Caravan Ramblings blog. After all this is a rambling to stay a few days in someone elses caravan – still it should provide some context to our own travels and experiences.

The day began long before dawn and a wake up call at 4:25. The Eurostar departure was at  07:55 and this meant catching just about the first fast train out of Reading into London Paddington. The drive from North Hampshire to Reading station took exactly 30 minutes as did the train journey into Paddington.

Another 30 minutes to cross London to St Pancras International meant a comfortable one hour to check in at the Eurostar terminal. The Eurostar departed per schedule and it’s now 08:36 and we are somewhere under the English Channel.

We travelled for much of the route at 300km per hour. Wonder if the TGV will be much faster.

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Still with only an hour to cross Paris to Gare de Montparnasse everything needs to go according to plan. 

Arrival in Paris was just two minutes behind schedule but the Metro ride to Gard de Montparnasse only took around 20 minutes. Am now waiting for my TGV to depart for Biarritz. Hope I’m in the right part of the train because it splits somewhere with half going to Toulouse.