Woke up to rain, got a taxi to the bus station, bus was 10 minutes late. Trip to Bayonne was only 1.5 hours, stopping for a passport check at the French border and at Biarritz on the way. Scenery wasn’t much to write home about, so listened to podcasts.
The bus dropped us off 10 minutes from the Bayonne train station, luckily it wasn’t raining, and we intended to drop off the bags and get something to eat in Bayonne, we had 2.5 hours before our train. Turned out there was no baggage drop but Song asked someone who directed us to a hotel opposite that would store them for us.
Walked 10 minutes into the town, crossed a bridge over an impressive river, and saw the market.
It was really busy, today was Saturday and it seemed everyone was there. There were stands outside in a square selling fruit and vegetables, ham, cheese and other produce. Inside there were places selling seafood, so Song ordered some oysters, prawns and shellfish. I don’t eat that so waited for Song to finish then went looking for something else. There were lots of people standing at counters eating seafood and drinking wine. I had a bit of a wander, everywhere was packed, I managed to get a seat at the counter and ordered a chicken burger, Song went back to the market next door.
The burger was very average, you’d find better in a suburban cafe in Melbourne. Very disappointing.
Walked back to the hotel to pick up the bags, going across the bridge was very windy, then on to the station. Train journey was only an hour and a bit, watched some tv. Bought a 10 trip bus ticket and waited for a bus to near the hotel but it didn’t come, so we got on a tram. The hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the tram stop and we went through a square with about a hundred people sat at tables drinking and chatting. Very French.
The hotel room was very small; the bed was up against the wall on my side and not much room between the foot of the bed and another wall. If I needed to get up in the night (and at my age I need to get up in the night) I’ll have to shimmy down the bed.
Settled into the room then went out for a wander and dinner. The streets were narrow with old, grand buildings, we walked past a building with the typical round turrets, I thought it was a church, but it was a big clock tower. We didn’t want to go far and ended up in an area with lots of bars and young people but very few restaurants. People in Europe drink a lot – it seems every meal has to be accompanied by a drink. Deciding not to go anywhere else, found a Thai place and had that. Not exactly traditional French food, but we still have 2.5 weeks in France so plenty of time.
We have 3 full days in Bordeaux, looking forward to seeing the sights and eating and drinking.