On Holiday in Biarritz

Unfortunately this is the week I did not have a way of charging my camera and am without pictures except for those I took with my phone, which is not many. Tip: ALWAYS bring you camera charging cords or else loose out on many great picture-taking opportunities…

One of the best things about being in a college student and discussing summer plans while still in school you find a lot of people who are also traveling during there summer holiday.  Everyone is very anxious to meet up, and some of them even offer up their rooms.  I was fortunate enough to talk with one of my good friends from within the University Guide Service who offered for me to join her and her family on their yearly vacation.  The Paul family are big Francophiles and every year rent a house somewhere in France and invite their friends to join them for weeks at a time.

This year they chose a great house in Biarritz that overlooked the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains in the distance.  It was called Chateau Maldagora.  This is the actual house’s website, and it barely captures how beautiful of a place it was. Altogether in the house there were a wonderful mix of five couples that came and left and eight of us kids.  It was a really fun time and everyone got to spend a lot of time with each other lounging, talking, and drinking.

The dinners that we had in Biarritz were probably some of the most delicious I have ever had, and they were very lengthy affairs lasting at least two hours each night and never started before 8:30.  Before each dinner Mr. Paul would create a seating chart that would intermingle each of the young and the “less young,” as they called it, together; this allowed for everyone to really connect and quickly became the favorite parts of everyone’s experience on the trip.  One night there were sixteen of us all sitting around the massive stone table outside.

Dinner always had a starter that ranged from a cold melon soup, to grilled brown sugared corn. The wine, which seemed to be non-stop, filled all glasses throughout the evening.  We had rosé, pinot grigio, cabernet, and port wines. For dinner we had roasted duck one night, lamb another, and this very meaty sausage comprised of heart, lung, intestines and who knows what else a following evening.  The deserts were also always spectacular, but what followed desert was the best part of dinner – the cheeses.  Large assortments of smelly yet amazing cheeses were brought out with baskets of fresh baguettes and delicious jams.  While everyone munched on cheese, jam, and bread and tried to figure out which pairings of the three went the best together, everyone shared stories, jokes, and songs.  Dinner eventually ended when the coffee and mini cakes were brought out, and midnight beckoned everyone to bed.  I became spoiled with this wonderful week of food, and I don’t really want to go back to eating on my own again.

We flew into Biarritz from London’s Stanstead airport.  The best way to get there is to take the Stanstead Express from Liverpool Station right into Stanstead.  It takes about 45 mins and was 28 pounds for a period return ticket, which lasted three months.  We booked our tickets through RyanAir, a company that offers cheap flights but jacks up the charges on things such as additional bags or forgetting to print off your boarding pass before you get to the station. Tip when traveling RyanAir: book early, and when they have one of their frequent sales, avoid checking a bag, and print the boarding pass before you get to the airport.

When we got into Biarritz, we went on an afternoon adventure to Saint Jean de Luz.  It was a fantastic little beach town, perfect for a day at the beach, a stroll around the town, and some delicious seafood.  After walking around the shops that all close at 1pm for a big lunch break, we headed to the boardwalk for lunch.  I had this fantastic chef’s mussels cooked in a red sauce with parma ham.

Another day we went into Biarritz’s main beach.  It is a very toursity destination; however, it still remained very classy.  There were these amazing rocks that stuck out in the middle of the ocean, and hydrangea lined paths connecting the hotels to the beach that zigzagged their way up the cliffs.  Biarritz is supposed to have some of the best surfing waves of the west side of France, and looked pretty good the day we were there.  Even though I was tempted to rent a board and go out, I stuck to bodysurfing with the group of friends.  The beach also had some topless sunbathers and about 1000 yards down was a completely nude beach.

That evening we took the bus back into the city around 1am to go to clubbing.  We went to Club Set, a small and nice club that was a little over priced.  We had to pay ten euros to get in (but that included one free drink) and most drinks after that were an additional ten euros.  The club was really small, but we had a good time dancing and ended up staying till about 330 in the morning.

The rest of the time in Biarritz we spent relaxing around the pool at the Chateau, playing cards, and watching the World Cup matches and the Wimbledon finals.  It was a great chance to get to know some of Olivia’s friends, some of which just graduated from Oxford and will still be there this summer.  In the blink of an eye the week had passed by and it was time for me to board the plane and head back to London and get ready for my class at Oxford.