At least one day in Biarritz was always going to be part of this tour. Al’s ride through the Pyrenees in 2016 started in Biarritz and he has fond memories of the two days he spent there on his own before meeting up with the VVV to start their ride. He’s been wanting to return ever since.
The day started damp and gray but the forecast was promising, so we loaded the backpack with swim gear, sweaters, and rain jackets and headed for the train station, conveniently just across the street from our hotel. I managed to buy our tickets using the SNCF Connect app and some trains clearly had an “add a bike” option, though we didn’t need it today.
It’s a short trip to Biarritz and then a short bus ride to the town centre. Very easy! We spent our day walking around, sitting, and eating.
The famous Grande Plage of Biarritz, looking southwest
There were a lot of these trees along the cliff tops. Their needles look quite feathery, while the trunks of the mature trees look like they shouldn’t still be alive! The blue tinge of the needles against the sky is an artefact of Al’s phone camera.
Plage du Port Vieux. The kids in the wetsuits and red vests seem to be in an open-water swim club. Nobody was going very far into the water this morning.
With full stomachs, we walked to the Plage de la Côte des Basques, below the Bibi Beaurivage neighborhood. I kept seeing signs pointing to “Bibi Beaurivage” with no idea that was where Al wanted to go to get to the surfing beach he remembered.
We'll be riding that way tomorrow. The bumpy height on the left is Erroilbide (Trois Couronnes) which I’d never heard of until I looked it up just now. The triangular height on the right is Jaizkibel, the climb of which is on our route.
Patrick O'HaraYes....looking towards Hendaye? Hope you get clear weather for the view. We were socked in by clouds when we were there. Reply to this comment 6 months ago
Jacquie GaudetTo Patrick O'HaraWe had clear weather for the ride today. I suspect it gets socked in a lot. When Al and his friends were trying to ride Jaizkibel as a day ride, they were prevented from doing so because the road was closed due to no visibility. Reply to this comment 6 months ago
We also saw a rescue. I’m not sure if the individual was seen from shore but there were 4 lifeguards watching the surf area with binoculars.
Two of these fellows will shortly go down to the water (there is little to no beach visible today) to bring the injured man ashore. Two will maintain vigilance.
The injured man was brought in on the jet ski, accompanied by another lifeguard (in addition to the jet ski operator). He could walk but had a cut somewhere on his head.
The jet ski operator took air a few times, heading back out through the surf. He had arrived from a nearby base as there’s nowhere to bring a machine in here.
Many more people on Plage du Port Vieux in the afternoon. A few were even playing in the waves close to shore, but nobody was venturing out to swim around the rocks outside the o9d port entrance like Al saw when he was here before.
After an ice cream, we boarded a bus back to the station and then the short train ride back to St-Jean-de-Luz. A TER train this time, not TGV Inouï like this morning, but still comfortable and quiet. How I wish we had passenger trains in western Canada. (Via Rail doesn’t really count.)
