Le Sable, le soleil, et Deutsch

Finished what has been a whirlwind week of sun, sand, spending too much money, and it was truly a blast
: )
Now time to rehash everything that has been happening, so apologies ahead of time for the length of this particular post.

Daniel, my darling cousin pictured above (no he is not burning himself, that is his 'cooking face' or at least what he did when I requested his best cooking face), arrived in Paris a little later than expected, which meant crunch time to see the city. We walked literally all over so he could see the sights and get a feel for Parisian life, there really is nothing like walking between those tall Haussman buildings on cobblestones streets. Unfortunately his sandals gave him a few blisters, I did ask if he was thinking of leaving his Maui island style behind, maybe some loafers, he laughed and said its been a while since he has worn shoes. We ate some yummy Turkish pita by the Seine, enjoyed a few pints at the local Irish bar, before finally letting him get some sleep.
Next day was an attempt to find a marché for some fresh produce so he could show off his cooking skills to no avail, so we settled for the local grocery store. Then Le temps des Cerises for a late lunch, followed by a relaxed walk around more sights, and then cooking in prep for dinner. I pretended I could remember it all, but I just hope he stops by again sometime to prepare a dinner for me again, the boy can cook! Then it was off to a jazz club for a bit, where he ordered drinks all by himself, then off to bed to catch some sleep before our 415 cab to the airport for the EARLY flight to Biarritz.

We arrived safe and sound if a little bleary eyed to meet his lovely German lady friend Suzanne and her buddy Jogen (sorry, I am not at all good at spelling German names, apologies to anyone who's name I butcher) We toured rainy Biarritz for a bit, as pictured above we are enjoying the cliffsides and clouds. Then off to get some camping supplies before heading a little less than 2 hours outside of Biarritz to Cap de l'Homy for camping! Below is my first sunset...the first of many, sorry for the ridiculous amount of sunset pictures, but it was just breathtakingly glorious everytime...

Cap de l'Homy where I am about 80 percent sure we were staying, difficult to be certain due to small town status of the places so they are often not on a map, was a campground apparently marketed primarily to Germans. That made for interesting conversations, but I got by with smiles, nods, danka, and Suzanne's flawless translating abilities. The site itself was in a forest, a sand pile away from the surf. It was almost disorienting to stand on top of the dune and to have in the west ocean and thick green forest to the east. Pictured above is our site, the little lime green bad-boy in the middle was my warm cocoon for the week. The days were a little chillier than I had expected, thus my internal body temp was a little sad I had only brought sandals, one pair of jeans, and a single sweater, but they got a lot of use.

My vacation was amazingly laid back, woke up late everyday, walks on the beach, some reading, good eating, etc. During warm days we spent most of it on the sand and in the water (no sunburns, it was a miracle). During colder days we ate at local towns, caught a movie, and even spent a day in the Pyrénées mountains, which was amusing since Basque country is so close to Spain they have a distinct spanish flavor to the culture, such as the bull festivities along with the red and white attire. The pic of the valley above was one of the villages along our route where I actually found some really cute cheap 'local style' shoes. The bay with the sailboats was also along our tour in a town with tasty quiche. The last two days were warm and sunny with lots of beach time.

Yesterday I had to wake up around dawn to catch the ONLY bus heading in the direction I needed to go, relax with the ipod for the 3 hour ride to Bayonne train station, where I had approximately 6 hours to kill before I should even consider heading to the airport... and no where to store the luggage (took a suitcase off of Daniel's hands so he doesn't have to lug it around India). So I trudge in the rain a bit, you would think France would figure out its August already and stop with the storms for a bit, seeing if any local hotels will hold the bags for me with no luck. Consider lugging the big guy around Bayonne for a bit, but the increased ferocity of the rain stops this idea, so back to the station to wait a bit. I then take a leisurely 2 hour lunch at a nearby restaurant, reading my french newspaper, sipping my café, and feeling very french (except for my sandals and UCLA sweatshirt, very NOT french). Back to the train station and out of the rain for some sudoku, when boredom really starts to set in, so I head to the airport early just for somethinig to do. Arrive and kick myself for not making the trip earlier because they are showing the USA vs Italy olympic volleyball match in their café. So I grab a muffin and a coffee, catch the last two games, along with some of the weightlifting before checking in only to discover they have changed our flight, so arriving in Orly and not CDG. Not a real problem as both are in Paris, but annoying in that I have never been to Orly and was getting in late, so transport home might have been a little difficult. But it all went well, and now I have officially seen both airports, CDG is much prettier.

Now lots of random shots from the trip, including sunsets, Suzanne trying a regional shot (green liquid tasted like mouthwash, and not in a good way, ugh), and the most amazing hammock in the world... spent many naps there.

kisses and sand from across the Atlantic, muah!