We used Biarritz as a jumping off point for some of the villages nearby, both further down the coast, and into the foothills of the Pyrenees. The first location we went to was St. Jean de Luz. It was a beautiful seaside town, with a wide bay and a lighthouse out on a point.
I decided to do some drawing of the old buildings in the area, and Sarah read her book. It wasn't the best location for drawing, as it was along the sea wall, and gathered quite a bit of traffic. I find it distracting when people come and look over my shoulder. However, it led to interesting things, because while I was sitting and drawing, a woman and her small child walked past. The little girl seemed very shy, but also very interested in what I was doing. Later, the same girl and her father came back and asked me if I'd draw their house (they were vacationing there, and wanted a souvenir of the stay). How could I say no? So, I said yes on the condition of coffee, because we had just been packing up to go to a cafe, and so found myself drawing this house. The lovely people brought coffee and cookies out on a tray, and later brought us a bottle of wine to say thank you. I drew the house with the little girl and her littler brother standing in front. The best part (other than cookies, coffee, and wine) was that the girl and her little brother got out their pens and pencils and drew, too. I didn't get a chance to see what they'd created (I didn't want to make them even more shy) . . . but it's just wonderful that what I was doing sparked them to do some art.
So, Sarah and I were pretty starving at this point, and decided to go get some dinner, splurging for the first time on our trip and getting a lovely spread of Basque fare, predominantly seafood with heavy sauces. A great taste of a different area's cuisine.
To finish a wonderful day, we took our acquired bottle of wine to the lighthouse, where we watched the sunset over the ocean and the little village. A beautiful evening.
And to work off some of those Basque sauces, we had a quick jog/run through the village as we realized that we had to only a handful of minutes to catch the last train of the evening. We skidded on board just as the whistle was blowing, without even enough time to find our correct car. So, we ended up crashing a picnic that two musicians were having in the hallway (we're pretty sure they were hitching a ride hobo-style). But we got back to Biarritz and it all worked out.
I decided to do some drawing of the old buildings in the area, and Sarah read her book. It wasn't the best location for drawing, as it was along the sea wall, and gathered quite a bit of traffic. I find it distracting when people come and look over my shoulder. However, it led to interesting things, because while I was sitting and drawing, a woman and her small child walked past. The little girl seemed very shy, but also very interested in what I was doing. Later, the same girl and her father came back and asked me if I'd draw their house (they were vacationing there, and wanted a souvenir of the stay). How could I say no? So, I said yes on the condition of coffee, because we had just been packing up to go to a cafe, and so found myself drawing this house. The lovely people brought coffee and cookies out on a tray, and later brought us a bottle of wine to say thank you. I drew the house with the little girl and her littler brother standing in front. The best part (other than cookies, coffee, and wine) was that the girl and her little brother got out their pens and pencils and drew, too. I didn't get a chance to see what they'd created (I didn't want to make them even more shy) . . . but it's just wonderful that what I was doing sparked them to do some art.
So, Sarah and I were pretty starving at this point, and decided to go get some dinner, splurging for the first time on our trip and getting a lovely spread of Basque fare, predominantly seafood with heavy sauces. A great taste of a different area's cuisine.
To finish a wonderful day, we took our acquired bottle of wine to the lighthouse, where we watched the sunset over the ocean and the little village. A beautiful evening.
And to work off some of those Basque sauces, we had a quick jog/run through the village as we realized that we had to only a handful of minutes to catch the last train of the evening. We skidded on board just as the whistle was blowing, without even enough time to find our correct car. So, we ended up crashing a picnic that two musicians were having in the hallway (we're pretty sure they were hitching a ride hobo-style). But we got back to Biarritz and it all worked out.
Someday, I'm going to get a job where I'm paid primarily in wine. Both the immediate and appreciable value far outweighs national currency.
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