A bit of a grey one today but not as cold and although it was wet overnight it stayed dry all day. Our next and penultimate hop on this journey south was a few mile further south in St Jean de Luz a bustling coastal town.

We did plan to spend a couple of nights here but when we arrived at the Aire the vans were packed in like sardines (I mean around 50cm between vans!) and the Aire itself is sandwiched between a main road and railway station – we parked up in an available space and set out for a walk around the coastline of the town – heading first northwards through the narrow streets….

To the main beach – Grande Plage….

No dogs allowed so we walked along the promenade to the small beach at the far end of the – Plage de St Barbe…..

Retracing our steps we crossed over the river to the quieter side of town and walking southwards along the shoreline passing Plage du Carre….

Across Plage de Socoa…..

And Plage de Deriveurs…..

To Fort de Socoa….

And it’s pretty little sandy beach – Plage de Fort Socoa….

At the end of the jetty beyond the Fort we were afforded beautiful views across the sheltered bay to the main town of St Jean de Luz and also along the coast to Spain….

A lovely walk – the beaches here are similar to those of Biarritz, more golden and with coarser sand than those of the Côte d’Argent

On returning to the van, I decided that I really wasn’t comfortable being so closely packed in between neighbouring vans and that having seen all the beaches here and had a wander through town, we would move on to our next and final bit of coastline – the much smaller resort of Hendaye.

Thoughts of the day:

• The Aire in St Jean de Luz is the worst I have encountered on this journey and it really was too close for comfort – it pays to have a back up plan.
• We just have one more day left on this coastline – unless of course the weather is exceptionally nice tomorrow and we decide to stay. We are a little ahead of schedule but no matter that just means we can take the inland journey back up to Caen a bit slower.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 16
• Miles walked – 7
• Beaches – 6
• Aire – £13.25 no electric