Blogs from Biarritz, Aquitaine, France, Europe - page 4

After our 4 star camping this was a bit different! The campsite was mostly French people, the night entertainment was cool, we did salsa dancing, french karaoke and had a english rock and roll band! The waves were small so Chris started reading and we even played some badminton!... read more

We spent Friday, 11 Jan, in Biarritz, France, which is a mere 30km or so from San Sebastian. The town bustles in the summertime when many Europeans flock to its lovely beach. ... read more

The title of this entry is appropriate for two reasons: 1) I went to France for the whole day today; and 2) These are the only two useful phrases I know in French (there is one more, but saying “Shut your mouth” is only useful in so many situations). Some of my friends and I took a bus for only 16€ from Bilbao, Spain, to Biarritz, France. It was a little less than a 3 hour drive and because both France and Spain are EU countries, I might as well have been driving from Illinois to Wisconsin—no passport needed (Just one more reason I like the EU: Free movement of people, goods, and money between EU countries). Despite my lack of knowledge of French, it was relatively easy to communicate with shop owners in Biarritz. ... read more

Sooo... a little more about the witch caves we went to see: During the Spanish Inquisition, Isabel and Ferdinand made everyone convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. Many people living in the Basque Country had a religion that was more or less a pagan religion. It revolved around the seasons, the harvest, you know stuff like that... So to many people they could be seen as 'witches'. During the Inquisition, anyone could accuse anyone of being a witch without proof. So if you were amde at your neighbor for not keeping their yard up (or something along those lines) you could turn them in to the government. So in the end many people were burned at the stake, or if they ran away they were burned in effigy... they would burn a doll of you ... read more

St EMILION to BIARRITZ - 9th May 2007 (Wednesday St Emilion 23º Sunshine& Biarritz 27º Sunshine) We are not keen to depart Chateau Franc Pourret but it is time to move on. St Emilion matches every expectation that one might associate with driving in the south of France - it is with regret that we leave people and places that we will never forget. My savvy navvy points us in the direction of Bordeaux but we skirt the City and take ‘périphérie’ (ring road) and head towards Archacon, which is on the coast (this is the way recommended to us by Catherine Ouzoulias). We drive through any number of small coastal villages that would be full to bursting had it been peak season and emerge on the other side of civilisation into pine forests that are ... read more