12. Heavy date!

In mid-October we went to Biarritz for another lunch at Bar Jean, the place by the market in Biarritz we like very much, but when we got there, it was closed. Think it only opens between Thursday and Sunday now. So, we found another promising looking place ("Le Bistrot des Halles") also very close to the market that we’d been to once before and we dived in there as it was raining quite heavily. Luckily, it was still only just past twelve and we had our pick of where to sit but within minutes, the place filled up. There was a table of raucous "Angliche" women who were clearly on a mission to drain at least one European red wine lake.. and, judging by the noise, I reckon they were going to finish in the medals!

Here's the Buena Vista Social Club singing "Chan chan":

While the £8.50 fixed price menu of 3 courses was astonishingly good value (confit of duck) we decided to go 'off piste' and try the à la carte.. Madame had a collation of seafood to start with – mussels, thinly sliced raw fish, squid and some shellfish while I had a terrine of foie gras with some crusty country bread. This was just about the best I’ve ever had.. absolutely superb. Then for her main course Madame had monkfish with squid cooked in squid ink – she was given a huge piece of fish - while I had a similarly generous thick slice of tuna..

A revelation occurred one early morning as I was taking the dog out for his constitutional. I was just pushing up the steep lane when I had one of those epiphany moments (they don't happen often!). I suddenly realised that I was no longer answerable to anyone – I didn’t have to worry about finishing a report on time within the costs set by the customer, or worrying where the next piece of work was going to come from.. and that, after a lifetime of sometimes crippling mortgage payments, we were now mortgage-free. It was quite a moment.. I said to myself out loud, “I’m free, I've made it, I've retired..”

A fragment of a visit to St Jean de Luz in mid-October - wandering down through the town which looked beautiful in the strong sunlight – people sitting outside in cafes and no endless throngs of people on the pavements as there are in July & August. And not a cloud in the sky. After looking at the shops, we found our way to the front and we walked along there for a while before we stopped to have a coffee. There were people on the beach and even a few people swimming.. We sat back in our seats and felt the warmth of the sun beating down.. I think St Jean is really the place where we’d like to end up. It’s compact, level and there are all the shops you’d need plus the beach is just yards away. So after dinner, you could put a jacket on and go for a stroll along the front and watch the sun go down. We might look for a small flat there one day.. Think St Jean is the most expensive place of all though down here – but as always, there’s a reason. There's everything you need within a small radius there.

St Jean de Luz

We had one slightly surreal occurrence when we came home to the gîte one day - Madame D was outside her back door – in a touching tableau (!) – holding an entire dead chicken (complete with head, neck, legs, wings) by the feet over a portable gas ring burning off all the remains of feathers.. The chicken’s head was sitting in the flames while she had a conversation with us.. It seemed slightly shocking to me at first but then I realised that this is the unvarnished reality of country living. Just up the lane on the farm there’s a dung heap – and I haven’t seen one of those for a long time - that her chickens are always picking around. The cock is always standing on top of it. It must’ve been one of these that got the chop..!

Think this calls for a vat of wine..

8. Chocolate & Car Number Plates

A day or two later we had to go to the tax office in Bordeaux to straighten out some administrative wrangle. We finished the business there early and so we had time to find a little restaurant in a side street for lunch where we sat outside in the September sun and had some salad and a steak. All for about £6 each.

After that, we went for a look at Arcachon, a swish seaside resort near Bordeaux I’d not been to before. It had that unmistakeably expensive look of a well groomed and manicured town. Someone had told us that house prices there are even higher than those in Biarritz and, looking at some of them, I could well believe it. Unfortunately, just as we found our way to the front, it started to rain so we never did get to get out of the car for a walk along the beach as we’d wanted to.

One for the ladies - chocolate heaven! 

After Arcachon, we drove back to Bayonne and parked in the centre to try one of the famed ‘chocolatiers’. Chocolate first came into France in the 17th century via Bayonne and there are still a number of specialist ‘chocolatiers’ grouped together in the narrow streets of the old town that date back to those times who still make their own chocolate from scratch (cocoa butter) and sell boxes of handmade chocolates (at wince-making prices). We had a hot chocolate at one of these establishments where it is still made from real solid chocolate (as opposed to cocoa powder) and was incredibly rich. They shave a block of chocolate and add hot milk to melt the shavings. As Madame is a chocaholic she enjoyed it very much! A real treat. The displays of superb hand-made chocolates would make many women weak at the knees. (Ideal for that first date then..) (oo-er missus!)

Then the weather changed…. It rained heavily during one night and it felt like the first day of autumn here in the morning. After sorting out some insurance quotes for the car, we went to our bank in St Jean de Luz to check our account, after which we came back to the gite for lunch the scenic way over the hills. The sun was out and the lush green countryside sparkled as it had been washed by the rain in the night, those big Basque farmhouses shone dazzlingly white in the sunshine and the jagged outlines of the blue mountains of the Pyrenees stood out sharply in the distance. What a landscape..!

This is a song that's dear to the hearts of all Basques - it's called Hegoak - it's almost their national anthem:

When we got back, I remember having a rich fish soup with some crusty fresh bread with a restorative glass of Bordeaux (about £1.50 a bottle in a local supermarket).

With all the bathroom and kitchen work coming up, we’ve been hitting the kitchen and bathroom showrooms pretty hard because I remember that afternoon we went to a huge DIY supermarket to look at tiles for the hall, kitchen and bathroom. After a while, I began to lose the will to live as it seemed that thousands of tiles were dancing before my very eyes. (although I might have overdone the lunchtime Bordeaux!) We also looked at shower enclosures. After a while, we both felt like we were ‘all shopped out’ and we’d definitely had enough for the day so we headed for home.. It’s definitely hard work being a pensioner.

At about this time I was taking the dog for a walk up the lane when I saw the strangest thing – the longest worm I’ve ever seen was in the middle of the lane. It must have been at least 18” long and it was almost as thick as my little finger. It definitely was an earth worm – and not a snake of any kind. The dog and I were fascinated..

More steps forward.. We registered the car with the French authorities and they allocated us a new plate with a local number – 64 - that will go on the car. To us, this was quite a symbolic moment – we’ve often talked about the day when we’d do this but it had always seemed so far away. We then drove to a garage and they made and fitted the new number plates while we waited. I must admit it felt strange to see the fitter take off my old plates, bend them in two and throw them into the bin.. A small part of me (the vestigial Daily Mail part) felt like saying, “Oi mush! They’re real British number plates they are, mate.. Get your hands off of them!” – but, of course, I didn’t..

After that, we’d just about had enough excitement for one day so we came home. When we got here, outside our door was some cheese that Madame D had made for us – she’s very kind. A few minutes later I was outside washing the car when she came along and we had one of those conversations where neither party is entirely sure what the other is saying.. (happens all the time to me when I’m speaking French!) But I gathered finally that she said I could use her hose to rinse the suds off my car.

Now why wasn’t this covered when I did French at school..?

3. St Jean de Luz & Biarritz

I think France has much to thank Napoleon for in laying down the basis of a well-ordered society. There appears to be a procedure, form, rule or a law for everything. If not, then Système Débrouille comes into play. Système D - as it's more commonly known - is the name applied to whatever it takes to beat the system. I was impressed by the efficiency of it all and the friendliness of everyone we came into contact with. It seemed that nothing was too much trouble for the mainly female staff we encountered. I can only put this down to my winsome charm, boyish good looks and casually windswept appearance.. (in my dreams!) However, I would make two recommendations to anyone trying to do what we did:

1. Make sure that at least one in your party speaks French..

2. Ensure you have multiple photocopies of everything* as they only accept documented evidence.

* = Birth Certificates, Passports, Marriage Certificates, Tax codes, P60s, Tesco Club Cards, Letters from Insurers stating No Claims Bonuses, inside leg measurements, etc etc..

What really made our life easier was the fact that, luckily, we hadn't put our printer/photo-copier in storage - we had it with us. Within the first few days, we’d started the daunting business of looking for a house. Why a house and not an apartment? For several reasons: control of maintenance costs; neighbours kept at arm’s length; the dog (he might bark if we left him alone at home for an evening which, in an apartment, would not be tolerated for long); plus we wanted a garden.

The three major towns in the French Basque country are in fairly close proximity to each other but, despite that, they are all completely different in character and appeal.

Starting from the south and working to the north, you come first to St Jean de Luz. After the hotspots of the Côte d’Azur (Nice, Cannes, Menton etc) and some chic parts of Paris, Saint-Jean-de-Luz comes a very close second when it comes to high house prices in France. Houses are advertised here by the agents as having so many square metres of habitable space (garages, hallways and landings are not included in this). If this is factored with the price, a price per square metre emerges.

The bay of St Jean de Luz

In Saint-Jean, it works out at a pretty eye-watering figure.. This price/sq metre can and does vary according to the perceived desirability of the property – but it’s a good starting point and it gives you an idea if a property is over- or under-valued. And they are seldom under-valued..!

If I had to show someone the Basque country and had only half an hour in which to do so, without question I would take them straight to Saint-Jean-de-Luz as it encapsulates all that is good about the Pays Basque. 

The town centre is compact, largely pedestrianised, flat and the main shopping street could hardly be closer to the sandy crescent of the beach. The market is a real treat for the senses - gleaming fish and shellfish fresh from the sea, yellow corn fed chickens from Les Landes, aromatic herbs, sausages, hams, crusty bread, cheeses - what a pleasure to browse the various stalls. (Rule No 1: Don't shop when you're hungry!)

Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Situated at the mouth of the river Nivelle where it flows into the almost circular bay, St Jean de Luz is bordered by its beach on one side and its port on the other. The architecture is superb – an appealing mix of the traditional heavily timbered Basque properties with their distinctive overhanging roofs and some outstanding Art Deco buildings dating from the twenties and thirties. They usually incorporate an element of Basque styling as well.

Looking across to Ciboure (left) from the inner harbour of Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Across the bay is the little village of Socoa with its beach, a good half dozen seafood restaurants, a sheltered mooring and its Vauban-designed fort.

The sea wall bears the brunt of the Atlantic swells..

The sheltered inner harbour of Socoa

Houses are invariably painted white with doors, windows and shutters picked out in one of three colours; a blood red, dark green or dark blue. While this could sound a little 'Stalinist', the result is that it does have a pleasingly unifying effect. Private property and public buildings in the Basque country are, with very few exceptions, well-maintained and clean and road verges are largely litter free. St Jean de Luz is spotlessly clean and stylish, with all the shops and facilities anyone could wish for, plus it’s on the main SNCF line to Paris.

The high speed TGV rail link all the way through to Paris will be constructed one of these days and that will drive house prices up even higher. Understandably, there is some extremely vocal resistance to the plan to extend the special high speed track (LGV) through the Pays Basque. At the moment, the TGV runs at high speed (~190mph) from Paris to Tours and then at a reduced speed to Bordeaux and the South West. (Edited to add: There's now a TGV service - 2hrs 5 mins - between Paris and Bordeaux). As things stand at the moment, Paris (some 500 miles as the crow flies) is only ~5hrs from here by rail. (Edit: now 4hrs) Once the TGV track has been extended through to the Pays Basque, then I would guess the journey time will be 3 hrs or less. However, the current financial crisis and local political resistance could well cause the completion of the south-western extension of the TGV to slip to the right. The current plan is to have the new line in operation by 2020 - but a lot can happen in the meantime!

The ski slopes of the Pyrenees are only 1½hrs away by car and a 20 minute drive from Bayonne will find you in Spain. There, San Sebastian is the nearest major attraction and Bilbao, with its strikingly modern Guggenheim Museum, lies just beyond it.

(We've yet to visit the Guggenheim because of the dog.. we couldn't leave him at home all day and we can't leave him in the car.)

St Jean’s beaches are superb and some of the best seafood in Europe is here. All the traditional values of ‘old’ France are upheld here – people dress well and live well still. People-watching is highly enjoyable. Natives and tourists alike are generally of the well-heeled variety (with one notable exception!).

The inviting beach at St Jean de Luz

We read somewhere that property changes hands on average every 25 years in St Jean de Luz compared to every 7 years in the rest of France. While there's no shortage of apartments, there aren't many houses available – especially if, like us, you are looking for something in town with only 2/3 bedrooms and a garage. They like their houses large down here; houses with 6 to 8 bedrooms are not uncommon. It’s definitely a seller’s market in St Jean de Luz and so, if you must have a house there, be prepared to sit it out. Or, bite the bullet and think about an apartment.

La Grande Plage, Biarritz, with the Hotel du Palais (right)

Moving up the coast, we come next to Biarritz. Despite it being an international resort with many 4* hotels and luxury apartments, it's not flashy. Its main beach - La Grande Plage - is dominated by the supremely elegant Hotel du Palais, a Grand Luxe hotel that attracts the world’s rich and famous. Lunch there is buttock-clenchingly expensive at 110€ (at the time of writing). (Napoleon III built it as a summer villa for the Empress Eugenie in 1855, but it was destroyed in a devastating fire in 1903. It was subsequently rebuilt as a hotel and is now owned by the town of Biarritz.) 

That said, Biarritz is all things to all men. There is a whole spectrum of things to see and do and places to eat and drink. Property prices here are generally as sky-high as St Jean, and as one approaches the sea front they surpass the St Jean values. We quickly forgot about looking for anything with a sea view or indeed near the sea.

Rail passengers for Biarritz used to be able to descend at the Gare du Midi which was in the centre of town and built to serve the needs of the Imperial visitors. It has now been converted into a theatre and very splendid it is too.

La Gare du Midi as it was

La Gare du Midi as it is today

Jardin Publique

There are some very attractive areas in Biarritz that we looked long and hard at – the area known as St Charles which, although in town, has a 'village' feel to it, and also the area around Les Halles (the covered market) and the Jardin Public (right) opposite the theatre. Both areas are very desirable as you can shop for all you need here on foot without having to use the car. But, unfortunately, there was nothing that we liked in either of those areas that was both a. for sale and b. affordable. In a perfect world, we would have tried to buy something in the Avenue du Docteur Claisse, a leafy enclave we discovered that was only an easy 5 minute walk from Biarritz’s Grande Plage.. but this turned out to be one of Biarritz’s prime residential areas. Hmm.

La Grande Plage, Biarritz

Our fall-back plan if we couldn't find anything suitable on the coast would have been to look further inland at Pau. And if we'd had no success there, our third option would have been to look in the Jura, near the Swiss border. Happily for us though, someone 'up there' must have been guiding us - because we next decided to have a look at Bayonne..