Hendaye and nights

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Trip start
November 1, 2024
Hendaye and nights
The drive to Hendaye and beach
November 1, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F
Quick drive from Lourdes to Hendaye, about 2 hours, all on the highway. Hendaye is just on the Spanish border, a little south of Biarritz. Chose this place due to proximity to Spain, a nice beach and good outdoor things to do.
The weather is cooperative, mostly sunny, cool morning, nice afternoons. We pick up our friends at the Bilbao airport this evening and will enjoy some company for the weekend.Read more
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Hendaye and nights
Cliffs and Rhune
November 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
Cliffs on the ocean. One of the beautiful parts of SW France are the Pyrenees coming right down to the shore. Plus there are massifs poking up out of the ocean creating beautiful windows for the blue sea to peek through.
We took a bit of a drive inland to take the Rhune train, a cog wheel train, which goes up to the top of Larrun mountains 905m or about 3,000 feet. It’s a 35 minute ride through forest and meadows with great views of the Pyrenees and ocean towns. There are also many Basque ponies running wild and very familiar with humans.
Larrun became famous when Empress Eugene, wife of Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte) climbed to the top in 1864.
In ancient times various witches, hermit monks, and others used the mountain for religious ceremonies.
The views from the top were great. Please see the pictures for some of the views.Read more
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Hendaye and nights
Biarritzy day!
November 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
Having some problems with photo upload in Find Penguins. More pics to follow soon!

Went to Biarritz for a day trip. What a great little beach town! Biarritz has been inhabited for over 10,000 years but wasn’t mentioned as a town until 1186. Its principal industry was fishing and whale hunting although that has largely died off now.
In the 1700s, the sea at Biarritz was claimed to have healing properties which was enhanced when Napoleon himself started taking therapeutic dips in the sea about 1784.
Great little town, beautiful walkways along the ocean. Many fitness trails used by runners and bicycles. We also saw a large group of open water swimmers going out about 1km and back. The weather was amazing, sky blue and cool temps. A gorgeous day at the seaside.
CJ and Orsi took off their shoes to wade in the sea. Balazs timed it perfectly to have them stand ankle deep while an incoming wave splashed up their legs. The Atlantic here is a little chilly for CJ but refreshing for Orsi!
Almost forgot, possibly the best lunch of our trip. We stopped at Bar Jean expecting something simple. The waiter started talking about €60 to €100 dishes. Then we looked at the Tapas menu, what an amazing selection. We started with melted Camembert cheese with bacon, Yummy! Then there was a selection of trays to grab €2 samples and got a mix of smoked fish, ham, sausage and other noshing bits. The we got “beignets of calamari”, a dish of fried calamari with an amazing curry sauce, accompanied by the waiter recommended garlic shrimp in an amazing butter/garlic/sweet chili sauce. Then, after walking away because we couldn’t eat any more, we had a bit of gelato, crepe, and cappuccino.
Ahh, perfect way to cap off a delightful day.Read more
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Hendaye and nights
San Sebastián!
November 4, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
Another great little city!
Our last day with our friends Balázs and Orsi.

San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián: is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay 12 mikes from the France–Spain border. The capital city of the province of Gipuzkoa, the municipality's population is 188,102 as of 2021, with its metropolitan area reaching 436,500 in 2010. Locals call themselves donostiarra (singular), both in Spanish and Basque.

San Sebastián is renowned for its Basque cuisine. San Sebastián and the surrounding area is home to a high concentration of restaurants with Michelin stars! We enjoyed some delicious paella (beef cheek and squid and shrimp in paprika flavored rice and black squid ink flavored rice with the seafood paella with shrimp, calamari and Squid.

San Sebastián is the capital of Spain's Basque Country, an area known for its beautiful natural scenery, unspoiled beaches, and delicious food! It is worth the visit.

We walked to the Urgull is a hill located in the city. It has a peak elevation of 123 meters and is a defining feature of the city's coastal topography along with Mount Ulia and Igeldo. Urgull is situated between the old town and the Paseo Nuevo, at the eastern end of La Concha Bay and is one of the city’s biggest green spaces. The hill served as a strategic defense point during the 12th century. With the establishment of modern state boundaries in the 16th century, the fortifications on the hill were reinforced at its summit stands Mota Castle, whose features include headquarters, barracks, warehouses, a chapel and a 12-meter-long sculpture of Jesus Christ added in 1950.

There is a gorgeous beach and a marina. As well as several other Jardins for the locals and tourist to enjoy.

The weather turned out beautiful for our final day together. We drove to Bilbao to drop them off said our sad goodbyes and off we went.

Time spent with friends is priceless and we thoroughly enjoyed this time with Balázs and Orsi and we know we will do it again!Read more
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Trip end
November 5, 2024

The drive to Hendaye and beach

Cliffs and Rhune

Biarritzy day!

San Sebastián!