simple life

Tuesday 25th November 2025 – St Jean-Pied-du-Port….

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Well after raining all night it also rained all day and alas I’m not sure that we are going to see the Pyrenees properly at all. We ventured out just the twice as the rain seemed to be easing a bit and took a wander around the town, most widely known as one of the starting points of the Camino de Santiago and the end of a couple of the French pilgrim routes – the Camino de Santiago marker clearly seen on the side of this building….

Unsurprisingly it is not a route for the winter as it takes you from here through the mountains – a glimpse is all we got today….

The old walled part of town is a series of cobbled streets both residential and commercial….

We wandered up the hill above the town to the Citadel not realising that it is still used today as a college so wandering around was somewhat restricted….

Up here the heavens opened again with some fairly dramatic thunder and lightening in the foothills – Tilly wasn’t keen to hang around and to be fair neither was I so we made our way back down into the town over the gushing river and back to the van…

Around 6 we took the opportunity to venture out again as the rain had eased to a light drizzle and wandered back into town. I was expecting and hoping that all the Christmas lights would be on but that was not the case, however the normal lighting gives quite a magical feel to the place….

We are staying here again tonight so I’m hopeful for a better day tomorrow and also if I’m honest I am just a little excited that this rain might turn to snow overnight, according to the weather forecast – we’ll see in the meantime we are all warm and snug….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Aire – £10.59

Monday 24th November 2025 – a soggy morning in Hendaye….

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What a shame our last day of exploring the beaches of the western coast of France and it is peeing it down! Never mind we have come this far and we are not going to duck out on the most southerly beach of the western coast of France and so all waterproofed up we strolled down to the waterfront and Plage d’Hendaye….

To be fair even in the rain it is a beautiful long sandy beach though all the central part appeared to be completely tidal….

With may be a bit of beach left at the southern end and Spain just literally across the river and clearly visible…..

As you can see there were not a lot of people out and about in the rain and even the few surfers looked a little disappointed at the lack of waves compared to the previous days.

After an hour or so wandering around we made our way back to the van and settled for awhile to try and dry out but after checking the weather forecast, wherein this wet stuff appears to be hanging around for a few days, I decided to move on to our next destination.

Despite the rain we enjoyed a lovely scenic drive through the valleys of the foothills of the Pyrenees wending our way alongside the railway track and the river Nive and occasionally swapping places until we reached our destination – St Jean-Pied-de-Port. To be honest it was probably the most scenic drive of our journey so far.

I was hoping that the rain might have eased up and we could have ventured out to explore this pretty looking town but it was not to be. Instead we cranked the heating up to dry our clothes and snuggled down for a lazy afternoon.

Thoughts of the day:

  • At the risk of being a bit controversial here – I think Scotland and in particular the Outer Hebrides has broken us – will any scenery or coastline match up?
  • We have visited 436 beaches in France and that’s with having missed a chunk in the middle from the Crozon peninsula to the Côte d’Argent – that is a lot of sand!! Quite a fair bit of it is now travelling with us!

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 44
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 1
  • Aire – £10.60 EHU
  • Groceries – £41.25

Sunday 23rd November 2025 – St Jean de Luz….

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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

Friday 21st November 2025 – Biarritz….

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After all that rain yesterday afternoon and through the night, we woke to an absolute stunner of a day today and though cold, as in feeling icy cold especially in the shade, it stayed with us until about 4pm, when it clouded over and started to rain but hey we were done by then. I apologise in advance that this blog is a little photo heavy but there was so much to see and capture – starting with snow fall overnight on the Pyrenees, captured as we took our early morning walk down to Plage de Ilbarritz….

A little later we set out to walk along the coast into Biarritz and beyond – our first beach being Plage de la Côte des Basques…..

At the northern end of the beach a small headland with an intriguing ridge out to the Rocher de la Vierge (Rock of the Virgin)….

And looking back towards the Pyrenees….

Snuggled in between is the sheltered cove of Plage de Port Vieux…

Next up Eglise St Eugenie, standing tall just above the beach and another islet – Rocher du Basta….

This was the start of the Grande Plage of Biarritz which had clearly had a bit of a groom….

As had Plage de Miramar with a stunning natural arch…..

We then arrived at the headland with Biarritz Lighthouse, marking the end of this very pretty resort….

From the lighthouse we had a spectacular view along the long sandy beach that we had hoped to visit yesterday which is sort of the end point of the long sandy beach that has been running from La Verdon-sur-Mer some 170 miles north and that which we have been following for the last couple of weeks…..

The sun is still shining and after a reviving snack and drink we continue our journey a little further to capture those last beaches – Plage de la Petite Chambre d’Amour….

Plage du Club….

Plage des Sables d’Or….

And just beyond – Plage de Marinella….

At this point a bit of a relax and off lead play time for Tilly before our long walk back, partly through the town centre of Biarritz….

A great day and fabulous walk.

Thoughts of the day:

  • 170 miles of continuous beach only broken by estuaries – that will take some beating.
  • Biarritz feels like we are in the south of France a bit more cosmopolitan than anywhere else that we have been on this journey.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked – 10
  • Beaches – 10
  • Aire – £14.79

Thursday 20th November 2025 – Tarnos to Biarritz….

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Not a great day for us today with only a fairly brief small window of dry weather around lunchtime – still we made it count…

Moving on from the Aire at Labenne and before arriving in Biarritz we visited the beach at Tarnos for a bit of a walk along the orange sands….

At this point we were still hoping to be able to walk along the beaches on the north side of Biarritz but the weather looks like it has other plans so we made the decision to drive straight to our Aire for the night on the south side of Biarritz as it is close to a beach.

The area we drove through wasn’t quite what the beautiful pine forests we have become accustomed to, it was very industrial around the port of Bayonne, but I guess even the French have got to work somewhere!

The Sat Nav took us for a wander around residential Biarritz, a mix of chalet style properties, whether lived in or second homes I’m not sure, until we arrived down at the seafront and our aire for the next couple of nights whilst we discover Biarritz.

As the sun was making a bit of a debut we headed straight down to Plage de Milady which was fast disappearing under the rising tides….

It looks like it might get a daily grooming! From here we continued south to the next more rugged and natural looking beach – Plage de Ilbarritz….

With the Pyrenees just about visible, though somewhat shrouded in cloud, in the distance – this beach was dog friendly so Tilly had the opportunity for a bit of a runaround.

As we had run out of footpath we headed back the way we came and just beyond the Aire to Plage de Marbella which was mostly lost to the tides and where access was closed off for some reason….

Though it did also look freshly groomed – maybe there is another access point – no matter it has started to rain again so I’m afraid we are going to retreat to the warmth and comfort of the van and take the rest of the afternoon off.

Thoughts of the day:

  • Dark grey stormy clouds, and nice fluffy white ones and clouds in general make for great photos and vibrant colours but grey skies make everything look dull and flat.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 19
  • Miles walked – 4
  • Beaches – 4
  • Aire – £14.78