Well, our later than planned rise in the morning after our
late night carousing with new friends from the hostel resulted in Doug and I
missing the direct train from San Sebastian to Bayonne we planned to take . Long
distance international trains surprisingly don’t run that frequently between
Spain and France, so we ended up having to take a regional Eusko train to
Hendaye on the French side of the border to transfer to a different train for
the short distance to Bayonne. I’ve come to expect good food in France but have
to admit the lasagna lunch I had at an outdoor café near the train station in
Hendaye was some of the worst microwaved greasy-spoon diner type fare I’ve had
anywhere.
 
We then had several hours to kill in Bayonne before our next
train eastward to Pau. Who says train travel in Europe is all that easy? There
was no left-luggage check or storage lockers in the station in Bayonne, so we
ended up each going for a short walk around the city individually while the
other waited at the station with our backpacks. Yes, maybe wandering through
the city with our backpacks would have been good practice for the days ahead,
but despite having reduced my load significantly in San Sebastian, my backpack
was still was heavier than I wanted to do any unnecessary walking with . I haven’t
heard much about Bayonne, but it’s a surprisingly attractive small city with an
old town made up mostly of very photogenic storybook-style half-timbered
buildings and attractive cathedral. Bayonne is very close to Biarritz, part of
the same extended urban settlement, and in case you’re wondering – yes,
Bayonne, New Jersey was named after the town. I probably spent less than an
hour walking a circle around the Old Town, so I really can’t say I experienced
it in full, though.
 
Our next train was to Pau, capital of the Bearn region
(where Bearnaise Sauce comes from) and perhaps a good place to spend the night.
But luck was with us. There was a train leaving shortly on the Oleron-Saint
Marie spur line with a connection to the SNCF (French railways) operated bus up
the Aspe Valley. We’d be able to make it to our planned destination for the
night at Lescun after all, despite being such drunken louts the night before!