I had a few more days until my brother would arrive and meet
me in San Sebastian . Rather than spending all my time there, I decided to go for
a few days to Biarritz, the posh historic seaside resort across the border in
the French Basque Country that is now also known as one of Europe’s premier
surfing spots. With several sandy beaches and bays separated by rocky headlands,
the seaside and hilltop promenades and grandiose stone Belle Epoque era hotels
made Biarritz one of the most popular places in France for high society to take
in the waters and the salt air and to see and be seen from the mid-nineteenth
century onwards.

Biarritz is quite a pretty place, but after Spanish cities
it feels relatively sedate. I’d expect the international surfing crowd’s
presence would have made Biarritz into a happenin’ party place, and I couldn’t
help but notice nice surfers’ physiques down along the beach, but I found the
overall atmosphere of the town to be driven by a very different age group. If
Biarritz were a person it would be a wealthy grandmotherly type who spends
summers relaxing by the sea, taking in the salt air, reminiscing about the good
old days of the past while clutching her heirloom pearl necklace at an elegant café,
her lapdog balanced on her lap . Biarritz is really a place about seeing and
being seen, shopping in the multitude of French designer shops, and sitting at
outdoor tables along the promenade at the beachside casino, a place with lots
of elderly couples showing off their lots of money – really quite a boring
place.

I spent one night at the youth hostel in Biarritz which was
quite a distance from the center of town and the beach. In contrast to the many
independent hostels I’ve been staying at recently, this was a very
institutional one that was part of the government-run French system and full of
groups of tweens and younger on summer holiday. I was bored with Biarritz and
decided to head back to San Sebastian where I found the atmosphere more lively,
food more affordable, and am able to habla a bit better with the locals in
their own language.

Doug arrived in San Sebastian mid-morning two days later. We
spent nearly two days wandering around town and partying it up, as Doug and I
are inclined to do when we get together . In fact, we partied it up a bit too much
on the night before our departure to travel to the start of our trek. The
hostel owner, Ion, took a group from the hostel out to a slew of classy tapas
joints for some top quality taste – Brisket of Beef with Wine Sauce, Rape (monkfish)
in Garlic Sauce, Boquerones (cuttlefish) in Butter and Garlic, Tabla de
Embutidos (plate of mixed Charcuterie meats) and bottles of Txokoli wine from
the Basque country. We partied to the degree that we overslept the early train
we had planned to take out of San Sebastian in the morning.