298. Long story short..

30th January. Today's gold price: 145,900 euros. (note to self: I must look down behind the cushions to see what I can find!)

Yesterday we had a short walk around Biarritz and we were tempted to step inside the Miremont cake and tea shop (it sounds much different in French). This is one of the last surviving businesses in Biarritz that pre-date the Belle Epoque.. Look at the photos in the link above.  

22nd January. I was ambling around Saint-Jean-de-Luz in mid-2023 when my eye was caught by the sight of a gleaming gold ingot in a shop window. Once back home, and solely out of idle curiosity, I looked up the current price for a 1kg ingot and I found it was 57,000 euros. I later returned to the website every few months to see if there was a trend upwards or downwards. You might be interested to know that today's price for it is - wait for it (put your cocoa down!) - a hefty 132,000 euros. That should tell you all you need to know about the present political situation.  

14th January. Mid January and need a lift? This piece should do it!

  

13th January. We had a spell of cold weather recently (in the bracket 0° - 5°C) and as a result, the bougainvillea that I planted last year is now looking the worse for wear. It had quickly climbed up the front wall of the house to a height of around 8-9 feet - but I've just noticed that all the leaves have shrivelled due to the cold. My question is this: should I prune it back hard - or leave it and let Nature take its course? The outside temperature is now up in the mid teens. 

2nd January 2026. First of all, a happy New Year to you!

I just had to check how long it had been since we arrived in the Pays basque.. The answer? 18 years and 4 months.. Phew.. It has f-l-o-w-n  by..

We went out yesterday to have lunch at an old favourite of ours - the Restaurant Larralde, Ascain. If ever a lunch started a year with a bang, it was this one. Suffice to say, without going into detail, they did us proud.. and I imagine it will be a long time before we enjoy a better lunch than we had yesterday.. (but I'm always willing to be proven wrong!😃)