To France for the day
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2008
1
13
21
Trip End
Jun 04, 2009
Biarritz, Aquitaine, France
Friday, January 9, 2009
we made the journey up to two French towns that are only a short distance from
France's border with Spain. Two train
rides and an hour and a half later, we stepped off the train in Bayonne,
France. It is rumored that the bayonet
was invented here in the 17th century, but we saw no evidence of
this. It is amazing that an in such a
short distance, the language and culture can change drastically. In Bayonne, we found that nobody spoke
Spanish, but a few spoke a little English in addition to their incomprehensible
French. After walking up and down the
narrow streets of Bayonne, eating some authentic French bread (which happens to
taste a lot like the bread found in Spain), and visiting the 13th
century Cathedral, we happened upon a tourist office that offers free bikes for
the day.
Our
original plan had been to visit Bayonne and then take a train ride to Biarritz,
which is a fun beach town not far from Bayonne, but finding the bikes changed
our plans. The lady who helped us with
the bikes told us that it would take about 45 minutes to get to Biarritz by
bike and that street signs would lead us in the right direction. With beautiful weather on our side, we
decided to go for it. The ride turned
out to be great and we spent the whole rest of the day in Biarritz, eating
lunch, walking along the beach, exploring the tide pools at low tide, and
cruising the city on our bikes. Late in
the afternoon we decided to head back.
We dropped off our bikes in Bayonne and headed back to the train
station. Although we only spent one day
in France, we loved it and could not have asked for a more enjoyable time!
Comments
France
That's such a neat idea to have the tourist office offer free bike rentals to visitors! Sounds like you guys had an amazing day.
It seems like there is a picture of Tyler eating in every photo set.
-mel