St Jean de Luz is such a special place to be:
6) walking the mountains
Another hot day in St Jean de Luz. There was little else to be done other than stretch out and relax on the beach. It may have been busy but it is a fabulous way to spend the day. Surprisingly tiring too! So long as you are in situ by eleven you can guarantee a good spot.
The hottest day of the year so far in St Jean de Luz. Appropriately I spent it on the beach with my wife and fake-daughter, Charlotte. Although it was a work day, a school day and not a special day in any way other than being decidely sunny, the beach was jammed with people. I think this weekend will be incredibly busy which is good news for the town. The weather forecast is excellent.
This afternoon we ventured back outdoors. The temperature had continued to accelerate all morning and the once empty beach was now entertaining all manner of practice; from chattering mothers and delicate grand dames delicately dipping their toes in the as yet icy sea to cavorting lads playing rugby with evermore energy as they fought for the attention of local girls. Most uplifting were the gym classes that were being held. Two teachers cajoled thirty or so young children in various hand-eye co-ordination initiatives, very funny to watch, particularly the tantrums. It is too hot to get much done other than simply relax and enjoy the moment.
St Jean de Luz has had a sand sculpture exhibition on this week. I was rather uninterested until I saw it, it's rather interesting and lovely.
In St Jean de Luz the firemen/pompier
s have it tough. Not content with making them run along the beach and go for a swim each day, today the boss forced them all to spend the morning surfing. They do say surfing is a must-have skill for firefighting. Only jealous.
ffee. As I imbibed the sound of very funky music ebbed and flowed. Being naturally curious, and looking for an excuse to avoid working, I ventured out to seek the music makers. Fifty yards down Rue Gambetta a group of very able musicians entertained passing tourists with a fab display of jazzy-brassy-latino music, the type you hear at rugby matches where notes are slid into and held in reverb. Lovely stuff.
St Jean de Luz has a wonderful beach. That wonderful beach is full of fine sand. That sand is continually trodden upon, washed-up on and treated with little respect by those who enjoy it. There is, however, one man who looks out for the little granuals. Day after day he protects their beauty; combing, cleaning and guarding the serenity. An anonymous man who craves no lime-light but ensures that the equilibrium between happy sand and happy beach-goers is maintained at all times. He is known as tractorman.
Mother and father have arrived in St Jean de Luz for a wee break and a spot of cat sitting while we head back to the UK this weekend. The weather has held up nicely for them. After an exhausting morning of reading on the front terrace we decided upon lunch. To be fair mother had had a tougher morning, she had received a pummeling at the hands of the Amatsu queen, Caroline. Given the weather and warmth we took them to our current favourite lunchtime haunt, La Plancha in Ilbarritz.
Our second Flamenco outing. Ninety fabulously attired people with a common wish to dance. A delicious dinner began. The tables were set around the central floor which was continually refilled as each course was presented. By the time dessert began to arrive everyone had danced at least two sevillanas. [select link to sevillanas]
While the CEOs of Lloyds, Barclays, RBS & Co. were being grilled by the goverment today we were having an equally stressful and demanding day. After being rudely awoken by the sun around six this morning we were compelled to spend the whole day on the beach, even though at times it was unbearably hot. As you can see it was as busy as the Northern Line at 0815 on a Monday morning, traumatic.
It was a stormy night. Admiral Hank Wannabe, commander in chief of the US Army special forces, was heading across the Atlantic with his men on a secret mission to attack south west France. Due to budget constraints aroused by 'le crise' the authorities had only filled the warship with enough fuel to carry its full cargo halfway. At that point there were two choices. Turn back or determine an alternative course of action. Being ever entrepreneurial, the American war hero chose the latter.
logs, plastic containers of US branded DIY products, barrels of liquor and dead fish. I can only surmise that this is the advance party for the imminent invasion. They have clearly offloaded their balast after consulting the cosmos and the storm has eagerly carried materials for makeshift camps, food and beverage onto the beaches to await the troops. This has enabled Admiral Hank to retain enough fuel to carry his men onwards.
Astounding weather today. After my weekly French-English coffee tutorial with Bruno little else was accomplished. Three hours reading on the beach followed by three hours lounging on the terrace. Very tiring.
After several days of wintry weather, the sun has broken through at last. The mountains loomed ever closer and even the beach felt nervously alluring.
Perhaps I'll leave it another couple of weeks before I go swimming but it was nice to be tempted. It turned into a rather fruitful day.
At 1600 each sunny winter's day St Jean de Luz transforms from a beautiful and perfectly tranquil Basque outpost into a vibrant highway of sashaying socialites. The esplanade and high street are crammed with deliberately slow paced people promenading in the afternoon air and looking fabulous. Outside of their immediate circle of gossip everything passes unnoticed.
We set forth to the shore to watch the sun setting across the Atlantic. Strewn across the beach and littering the sea were hundreds of basking sea-gulls all of them ready to claim any unwitting fish as 'mine'. As we walked home we appreciated how much warmer it is becoming. We also wondered whether any of our fellow pedestrians had noticed the sun falling behind the horizon so intent had they all appeared on the outward perfection of promenading.
Stacks of the white stuff fell on St Jean de
Luz today, a relatively rare occurence given its coastal proximity. After making a wee snowman on the patio I headed to the beach - a bizarre experience. The sand was completely covered in snow which turned from white to beige as the waves crawled up the sand. It reminded me of a gigantic etch-a-sketch.
The holiday season has officially ended. The Parisians have headed home, the schools are back and the Christmas lights are turning off one by one. Sad in one way to see the back of another festive period but also pleasing that St Jean de Luz will return to normal.
ers have been set up around town to provide the festive shoppers with background music. 
