We leave our hotel early, and Bill goes to pick up our rental car. We have breakfast at the Novotel as it is pouring rain. We spend the morning catching up on calls and admin. Then we go for a drive in Biarritz and still wet. We check in to our stunning hotel called Brindos.
This is from our room.
We go to the gym and swim. It fines up a little while I swim. I am the only one swimming. It is incredible.
This is our room configuration (from their website). We are 2 floors up.
We go to the bar and have tapas. We are both trying to cut down on our eating.
We have a TV in our room. Bill finds some soccer. I get up to date with the blog. We make a plan for tomorrow. Hope tomorrow the rain stops. Still, it has been a great change from the very hot.
The next day we took a drive to the beach. We had done so the day before and it was so wet we couldn't get out of the car. We also could not find anywhere to park. Finally, we worked out parking places - 24/24 meant open 24 hours, not 24 parking places are all taken!
First job was to visit the laundromat.
After something to eat, and then picking up the laundry we wander to the beach. This is one of the things people come here for, especially holidaymakers from the UK.
I went for a swim.
Bill took both photos. Though it wasn't me.
I didn't go for a swim. It makes a good story and it could have been me. A lovely beach.
Be careful of the steps. For those of you who don't know I had 5 days in hospital after falling down steps like this in Auckland. My shin was cut open and I had to have it stitched under a general as it was close to the bone and a bit of a bigger cut than your ordinary shin graze! I now hold on to a rail when there is one, or go super slow.
Bill finds the local rugby team is playing the next night. Biarritz is the home team and Stade Montois is the neighbouring team, they are from Mont-de-Marsan, about one and a half hours north away. They are in the French 2nd division. We had stayed with our good friend Nick Mallett in 1986 when he coached a French 2nd division team.
Grindr is Biarritz's sponsor. [From Wikipedia]: "Since launching in 2009, Grindr has grown into the largest social networking app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. We have millions of daily users who use our location-based technology in almost every country in every corner of the planet." Don't think that would happen in provincial New Zealand?
And the game begins. Unfortunately the local team did not score and by half-time Stade Montois were leading comfortably.
Saw a try by the local team Biarritz. Not enough of these, unfortunately.
Final score to the away team.
At our hotel you can stay in rooms on the lake - in the picture to the right are the sleeping chalets. People are taken to and from them by boat.
I am leaving Brindos a day before Bill, to go to England for a girls' retreat. Bill will have fun watching sports and catching up on his work. I will be away for 5 days altogether. I will ask him to add his experience to mine on the blog. Mine will be longer of course!
Bill took a walk around the lake later after I'd left. He did not take a selfie. Next time.
