Wednesday 30th May

It was a late start as we needed a rest from the St Sebastian visit. Wow what a nice city.

Main objective today was Place des Halles for a big coffee/hot choclate, cheeses, hams, baguettes and then onto Carrefors supermarket for other stuff. We discovered the Milwaukee Cup Cake stand in all places with a very well spoken American proprietor and her delighful staff. Suddenly everyone around us was American and talking about the disasterous Spanish farming practices - what about the American farming monoculture? Our thirst satisfied and other items purchased we buzzed home with our Poste box to send stuff home to make way for other stuff purchased and to be purchased. We made make short work of the baguettes and the incredibly stinky Nornandy Brie - STINKS!

The stuff we packed into a La Poste box was equal to 60% of one suitcase and to send all that crap home for E42 was sensational value. No probs now putting new stuff in. It was time to dress up in our Frenchy tops and hit the pool side tables at the L'Hotel du Palais, a private hotel next to us, looking half acceptable. It's the one with the best views of the beach and built above the beach to boot. Gee we looked like tossers sitting at the best table with our signature crockery, signature table napkins, drinking the best hot chocolate in town and so cheap we will cry when we get back to Australia. Many photos later and a conversation with the waiter who bummed around Bondi and Cooloongatta for a year and we departed for a walking tour of the southern beaches, via beach and the Basque port at which the water was 8 feet lower than any other day. We found out that all the locals on that sideof the town gather at the park baguette/eatery and have tapas and drinks happy hour from around 4pm and also play Bocci (Boule in French). Very nice life. We also needed something so we found a new part of town we didn't know existed 300 metres away and munched on some pomme pattiserries. We passed by Place des Halles and found the happy hour in full swing there also.

All in all a relatively uneventful day, given how quiet the surf was and we made sure this blog was up to date before midnight Tuesday with photos uploaded. It just gets too much to do it in arrears. Tomorrow is Bayonne day, only five kms away by bus. All that chocolate. Good thing we dont have a car and must walk everywhere everyday.

THURSDAY 31ST MAY 2012

First stop was La Poste to post one suitcase of mostly crap we were never going to wear or have fininshed with back home. Guy estimated the weight at 5kg and it weighed in at 4.7585kg, not a very good guess. Having despatched the box home it was onto the bus for Bayonne and we arrived 20 minutes later at the Place des Basques. A quick visit to the Touriste centre and we had the requisite map to start the day. As it was already 11:50 lunch was calling and we found a nice little restaurant where Guy ordered a Croq Monsieur with salad and Caroline had a Capsicum terrine with eggplant and sheep cheese. Replenished we set off in search of new streets and vistas.

Bayonne is a port city built around two intersecting rivers and the buildings are a mix of pure Basque and traditionelle French style as you would see around Paris and other major cities. We found out way to the far away Bayonne Chocolate Factory which is the boon docks, after a visit from a creepy couple who followed us from the other side of the road. The male came over to Guy asking for money and quickly left when told that we only carry Australian cash. The continued to follow us so we took the railway bridge over to the boon docks and they desisted from their fruitless endeavours. Guy doesnt carry money. Stuff 'em.

We found the factory and quickly got into the self guided tour whcih was quite amazing as it followed the production process of the factory alongside the explanations and videos of how it was all discovered and how it has developed as an industry until modern times. When we got back to the tasting section we met a Californian couple who chatted with us for a while in between filling our faces with free chocolates. We shared a cab back to the centre of Bayonne with them. We told them all about Homeaway.com Biarritz, St Sebastian and Le French Mobile for their next trip.

We continued our tour of the city around the Cathederal ofSt Mary, thesecond largest in France. It has the story of the shroud of Turin and many beautiful features. We scouted the many fortress walls and shops before returning to same street we had lunch in to find the AMericans having dinner at the same place we and they had lunch at.

We got home at 7pm and decided on the Palmyria ( Paella Central ) where Guy had the Basque Chicken ( thats the one that blows up in your face if you dont give it independence from the Spanish ) and Caroline had her Capricciosa pizza.

The ensuing walking along the coast was perfect in one of the very best sunsets we can remember, and there have been many good ones. Everyone was taking photos. We have not touched the chocolates we bought at the factory yet.