Heydane Plage

From Heydane Plage

I tipped the bird generously

You don't have to wait long to catch a wave here

Vicki identified this as the Heydane Rosetta Stone: it

simultaneously translates French, Spanish, and Basque;

Basque is impossible...

We're still eating OK...I have downed my share of oysters in

the past, but these are the first three I have ever shucked

myself, with an oyster knife purchased (with the oysters)

at LeClerq's; "by his own hand," which was not cut seriously;

obviously there's a trick to this I have yet to learn

Patisserie-bought desserts are a bit easier

This is the train station at Heydane Plage, across from which

we parked (with a dozen other autocaravanas) for a couple

nights; we thought it was the rather famous Heydane train

station where Hitler and Franco met in 1940, resulting in

Spain's neutrality in WWII (Hitler didn't want any more

baggage to carry); actually, the station is in town, we later

learned, and it's not nearly as scenic, nor large really; so,

I guess the proper caption would be "this is not the train

station where Hitler and Franco met in 1940..."

Heydane is about the last coastal town in northern France before the Spanish border. It is an old resort town with a casino, beautiful beach, very popular with the surfing crowd. Even in winter.

More Seascapes Near St. Jean de Luz

But first, at the LeClerq store outside Bayonne, a place to

park your puppy...

Looking toward Biarritz, huge breakers coming in

Waves forming from a gentle sea, a quarter of a mile out

Then crashing onto the cliffs

View in the other direction

We drove on, into Bayonne, by Biarritz, especially enjoying the fantastic seascapes just beyond St. Jean de Luz. We stopped for the night at an Aire by the Gare, near Heydane Plage, just about the end of France, already well into Basque country.

Pyla Seascapes

Fishing the Big Waters (but probably not fly fishing)

More of the big dunes in the making, off-shore

Moules et riz!

Before heading on, after three nights near Arcachon, we explored a bit more of the coast, south of the big dunes.

Arcachon, Les Landes, and the Grand Dune Pilat

From St. Emilion we drove back across Bordeaux and out into the region, 40 or so miles west, known as Les Landes. Historically, it has been low land, relatively unsettled, but the last century has seen much reclamation, turning the marshes into vast pine forests on the dunes, all about the size of Connecticut. Driving through it, you'd think you were in the US Gulf Coast area. There are signs of logging here and there, but not really all that much. Just miles and miles of pine forest. At the coast is the town of Arcachon (and several others), seaside resorts that are making a come-back economically. As it turned out, we spent three nights in or near Arcachon, and at the Grand Dune Pilat.

Arcachon beach

Ditto

Broad beach; low tide

Looking up at the Grand Dune Pilat, south of Arcachon

Climbing the dune; it's between 300 and 400 feet high, and goes on for a 

couple miles

Vicki near the top

Looking out into the Atlantic, gigantic sandbars, more

dunes in the making

And the big dune itself goes on some miles

St. Emilion

The very strange collegium church (main religious sites are

catacombs, which we skipped)

Its cloisters; note limestone columns

wearing away...

Interior of the church...three domes, then

ribbed vaulting (fashions change), few

windows, a good bit of original 12th

century painting

Some of the painting...in the second medallion from the left,

the devil is whispering sweet-nothings into someone's ear

Some "abstract" painting over where some of

the plaster has chipped away

Part of the city wall

View from near the clock tower

Clock tower

Clock tower from the catacombs area

City portal

Wine shop where I bought a grand cru; owner plied me with

several tastings...

Macaroons were invented here by the Sisters, so we sampled

them (the macaroons), as well as some other local pastries,
from this shop

But, mostly, St. Emilion, an old and beautiful town, is about

very fine old wine

St. Emilion Region

Bordeaux has more wine regions than we could reasonably

visit, so, in addition to my tour of the Medoc, we drove out

Sunday to St. Emilion, my favorite among Bordeaux wines,

and also said to be the most scenic of the wine areas; here's

one near St. Emilion itself

The grape-picking machines they now use just pick from the

sides, leaving zillions of grapes to rot on the middle part of

the vine; you keep demand (prices) high by keeping supplies

low...

So we helped ourselves; yum, very sweet

and fruity, but not sans seeds; maybe I'll plant a

few

Another chateau; this one turned out to be a hotel/restaurant

At every intersection there are six more chateaux, in each

direction

After visiting St. Emilion the town, we also

managed to find the largest menhir in SW

France, La Menhir de Pierrefitte, about 5

meters tall

On Foot in Bordeaux, Part II

The tower next to the Cathedral of St. Pierre

St. Pierre Cathedral; sort of weird...the two enormous towers

are on the north transept; it is a humongous building, one of

the largest I have seen; but, as they were conducting some

sort of service (the nerve! did they clear this with the Office

de Tourisme?!), I was not able to explore; or take pix

Closer up of the two towers

The cathedral's weird west facade, with an even weirder

flying buttress at the SW corner

Hotel de Ville

Courtyard of the Hotel de Ville

Part of the Musee de Beaux Artes; or, possibly GatorLand

 

I am not sure what this was...possibly Bordeaux's answer

to the Pompidiou

One of the old district's remaining 15th

century portals

Back in the Esplanade, a giant statue of my
favorite French philosopher, Montaigne

Our campsite for two nights; I was quite taken with
Bordeaux