202. Coming up for air..

18th February 2013. I'm probably going to tempt fate here but.. I think we're just about done with winter - down here at least! After a very wet January and early February that left the garden totally sodden, we've had our first few dry days and over the weekend the temperature took a decided hike upwards from around the 10-12° mark where it's been lurking for a while. We went to Saint-Jean-de-Luz yesterday afternoon and we weren't the only ones to have had the idea..

It was a warm, if breezy, 18°.. and after walking through the throng we had a coffee in the sunshine at the Place Louis XIV (below)..

After 5 years here, we still relish the sights, smells and sounds of this blessèd corner of France. The white-painted Basque houses dazzled as they reflected the sunlight, and a silver mist hung lightly on the distant mountains - there's nowhere else that does it for us quite like the Pays Basque.       

I don't think it will be too long before we'll be ordering some of these - at which point I'll have to ask you to either join us or take a turn along the beach for half an hour or so while we do the necessary!

Sardines

So - what's it to be..?

28th February 2013. I spoke too soon! Yes, we've had blue cloudless skies and sunshine but in the mornings the temperatures have been hanging around low single digit values, warming up in the afternoons.

Went to see "Lincoln" the other day and I think that the Oscar given to Daniel Day-Lewis for the starring role as Lincoln was richly deserved. He is Lincoln.. Worth a look.

Last weekend was Le Big Crunch between England and France in the annual 6 Nations Rugby. This was a match where the result was always going to be more important than the manner in which it was achieved. Wesley Fofana of France scored a wonder try but it wasn't enough to hold out England who, in the end, looked good value for their win. I think the substitutions made before the last quarter decided the outcome. Anyway, see for yourself..

3rd March 2013. Into March now but we still have these low temps.. This morning it's still only 3°.. (at 1030am) having said that, the TF1 weather forecast last night said that we're going to be the warmest in France today at 17°! Think we're slowly creeping into Spring here. Can't come soon enough for me..

Meanwhile, there's a new film out here called "Boule et Bill" - the central character is an English Cocker Spaniel - golden of course (what else!). He's the spitting image of our pooch and so - being cocker daft - I think we might just invest in a couple of cinema tickets.

Here's a reminder of ours:

17th March 2013. On Friday night the rowing club had another soirée in an old vaulted cellar (right) built in the ancient ramparts that surround Bayonne. Great fun - good company, lots of wine, charcuterie and cheese..

Yesterday saw only my third sortie on the river since the New Year.. It took me till mid-January to shake off the flu and then we had more or less constant rain for a month. I'm always glad to see the back of the first three months of the year and this year will be no exception. I went out in an VIII - and it turned out to be a seriously vigorous sortie. We did ~20km and we were all fairly beat up at the end. 

Saturday afternoon saw the concluding round of matches in the 2013 RBS 6 Nations rugby tournament. The stage was set for a monster game at Cardiff between the hosts - a resurgent Welsh XV - and an England XV that was attempting to win their first Grand Slam for 10 years, having won all their 4 previous matches. In a depressing spectacle (if you're an England fan) it soon became clear that Wales would triumph as they played their ferociously competitive brand of rugby. 

I think England's problem was that, unlike the Welsh, they played without passion. I'm convinced that the English coaching staff had told the lads prior to the game to just go through their well-practised drills and the result would come. Played with passion, rugby can be a thing of beauty.. Without it, it just becomes a series of rituals.

We English have been brought up to be emotionally continent - unlike the French, the Welsh, the Scots, the Italians and the Irish - all of whom use passion to add that added sparkle, that extra dimension, the unexpected, the extra gear that helps them in extremis to raise their game. Very few English sides have had that ability - they just work harder and harder.. 

There were one or two moments yesterday when England played with some fluidity and pace and without sticking to the script.. Alas, they didn't last long before they were sucked in by a mighty Welsh side whose collective will-to-win was irresistible on the day.
 

When England trotted out on the field, they didn't looked hyped up to me - they looked calm. And I'm sure that comes from Stuart Lancaster - who is calmness personified. It's a great quality to have but there are times when passion and warrior spirit is called for. Yesterday was one of those occasions. That win will warm Welsh hearts for a generation! It hurts me to say it - but well played Wales!

Here's a short clip of the highlights - fortunately it was the only one I could find!☺

201. Réseau Comète on the map..

24th January 2013. As both my regular readers will be aware, since living in this region, I've taken a great interest in the Comet Line - a network that was set up in WWII by Andrée De Jongh, a 24 year old Belgian woman. Her noble aim was to assist evading Allied aircrew shot down over the Low countries to return to the UK via the Pays Basque and on to Gibraltar and home.

If this subject is new to you, then scroll down and look in the left hand column to where it says Shortcuts.. Click on Comet Line. A few minutes reading there should bring you up to speed. For quite some time I've been of the opinion that the activities of Comet during the war deserved a large scale map and so I've been busy the last few days populating an interactive map with sites of special significance to those interested in the Comet story. The map coverage extends from Spain, up through France to Belgium and a few sites in Germany.

Holding your cursor over any of the locations should bring up its brief description - and clicking on the location should bring up an image after a second or two's delay. To see the map in full screen, click here. If you wish to see a satellite view of the map, click on "Satellite" in the top left hand corner. Use the +/- signs at the bottom right to zoom into and out of the map. The locations are accurate in 99% of cases down to house level so it is worthwhile zooming in. If you wish to have more space for the map and get rid of the listing of all the sites of interest, click on the stylised arrows in the top right hand corner.
Please let me know if you spot any major omissions or inaccuracies. The images are a mix of my own plus those I've trawled from various places on the net. If I happen to have used one of your images and you'd rather I hadn't, let me know and I'll remove it.

31st January 2013. I've been busy lately working on things related to the Comet Line.. so I haven't had much time to scribble here. Just thought I'd mention that we had lunch outside today in Bayonne.. It's still January and it was 17-18°. There's a good little Italian on the banks of the Nive - we've been there before and it's worth a look if you find yourself in Bayonne. Tick VG!

2nd February 2013. It was a great afternoon for some serious armchair sport today - it was the first day of the annual 6 Nations rugby.. There were two matches yesterday - the first turned out to be a thriller in Cardiff between Wales (last year's Grand Slam winners) and Ireland. The lads in green held out to win 30-22:
The other match was England vs Scotland for the Calcutta Cup. This is always a fiercely competed fixture as this is the one that the Scots hate to lose. Yesterday's match saw a hard-fought win for England by 38-18. Some commentators have suggested that the 20 point margin of victory was not a true reflection of the game but that's how it finished. As always it was hard to watch - my legs were twitching constantly! Here are the highlights:

4th February 2013. Yesterday saw Italy squaring up to France in Rome - the final match of the first weekend's 6 Nations action. And what a game it turned out to be..! For the second time in 2 years, the Azzurri of Italy beat les Bleus of France in a - at times - ragged encounter. I have to say that there were times in the second half that France appeared to have lost all cohesion and they looked like a dispirited rabble. I think it was the worst display by a French team that I can remember. I don't think the sole answer lies in changing the manager either. England faced a similar situation after the last RWC and they appointed a new manager who rebuilt the team with many new faces. They now play a different game to the sideways crabbing tactics that they showed under Martin Johnson. I wonder if Guy Novès (manager of Stade Toulousain) will be offered the post?

I don't think it will be too long before Italy move up the pecking order in the international rankings table. Here they are winning 23-18.    

9th February 2013. It's been a wet week here in the Pays Basque - too wet for outings on the river - with only the 6 Nations rugby this weekend to add some sparkle. Today sees Scotland play Italy in what I expect to be a bruising encounter at 1430 UK time then France play Wales at 1700 UK time - with both sides there looking for their first 6 Nations win of the 2013 series. What could be better after a good Sunday lunch than Ireland vs England in Dublin. (at 1500). This promises to be a cracker of a match by two sides that are widely tipped to be the best this year. Too close to call in my opinion. All matches are being shown on BBC1. Watch it live via this!

10th February 2013. I mentioned earlier that I've been busy with the Comet Line lately. Here's a video I put together of some of the many courageous people who chose to involve themselves in what turned out to be an extremely dangerous occupation. If you click on the YouTube logo and watch it there instead of here, then look underneath the viewing screen and click on "Show More", I've written brief notes and in most cases included a link about each of the men and women.

200. Let them eat cake..

11th January 2012. As we seemed to have shaken off the worst of the flu bug we'd had over the Christmas period we decided to go out this afternoon for our first walk of the New Year around Biarritz. As usual, the intensity of the light seemed to crank itself up a notch or two as we drove through Biarritz's winding streets towards the sea. A few minutes later we were walking along the sea front and we did what pensioners do best - we found a seat in the sun!☺ 

Place Bellevue

We couldn't take our eyes off the compelling display of towering waves that were rearing up and crashing in thundering explosions of dazzling white foam against the rocks. It was difficult to estimate the size of the breakers but I'd put the highest of them up around 4-5 metres high. There were a few hardy surfers out there mixing it with the choppy waves, but the conditions didn't look ideal for surfing to my untutored eye.

After a while the dog became impatient for some action and so he led us along the front to the Place Saint-Eugénie before we turned back to walk up through town via the Rue Mazagran to the Place Bellevue where we stopped at the newly opened extension of the temple to the art of the pâtissier and legendary tea room (salon de thé sounds better!) - the Miremont* (above) - that faces the sea.

* Link to photos of cakes.. viewer discretion advised!

If you're going to stop somewhere in Biarritz in the late afternoon for a cup of tea or coffee, there isn't anywhere better. Then there are the cakes.. I'm not normally a great cake eater but I have to admit that these are pretty special:

A favourite watering hole for us in the centre of Biarritz is the well-situated Royalty in the Place Clémenceau - ideal for people-watching.

Another is the 1930s Art Deco Hôtel Plaza - which is ideally situated to watch the to-ing and fro-ing of daily life outside - or, in the case of adverse weather, there's a very comfortable bar and lounge inside. There's often a cool jazz trio/quartet who play here too. Madame gives the Plaza top marks for its hot chocolate by the way!

14th January 2013. Across the border into Spain for a quick shopping raid at Venta Peio, Dancharia (right). As we climbed the mountains on the way there, one or two of the peaks were dusted with snow, like icing sugar. Arriving at the almost empty car park, in contrast to the hectic crowd scenes witnessed there in the build-up to Christmas, we virtually had the place to ourselves - and standing in the Spirits section, I was close to being hypnotised by four long shelves groaning with many of the finest available Scotch whiskies, including more than a few gems such as Talisker and a cask-strength Glenfarclas. I've said it before but there's a lifetime's study waiting here!

Here's the late George Harrison with a little known version of an old song (c1931) originally recorded by Cab Calloway. Guaranteed to have you humming it all day!