106. A tale from the dentist

13th January 2011. We decided on a quick shopping trip to Dancharia in Spain yesterday to look for some lighter luggage suitable for our upcoming trip to Spain..

On the return journey, as we were driving down the snaking mountain road back towards Espelette (a village noted for le Piment d'Espelette and this great hotel/restaurant, and there are seven others - not bad for a village of only 2,000 inhabitants!) an oncoming car gave a discreet single flash of his headlights to the car in front of us - and the same again to us. In the Pays Basque, if agents of the State (gendarmes, CRS, police, Douanes) are out and about, operating a speed trap or a document check or, as was the case here, customs officers looking for people bringing commercial quantities of cheap cigarettes into France from Spain, then it is not unusual to be warned in this way. The strong streak of antipathy towards agents of the French State here is balanced by an equal measure of solidarity among the Basques. It's clear why this region was so successful in combatting the best efforts of the German Abwehr during WWII. There is such a solidarity that penetrating it must have been an almost impossible task.  

Now, to change the subject, if you have a 'thing' for chocolate, here's another Bayonne institution - Chocolaterie Daranatz.. I went there the other day to buy a small box of marrons glacés as a little treat for Madame. (If I give her a marron glacé I can do no wrong for minutes weeks afterwards..) If you're not a chocaholique, have a browse on their site - it will spoil you for ordinary chocolate. Chocolate from Daranatz and their close neighbours Cazenave is to High Street chocolate as a 1930s 'Blower' Bentley is to an Austin Allegro.. A word of caution: they do mail order!

14th January 2011. I went to my dentist in town this morning. His practice is in the Avenue Thiers - Bayonne's most elegant avenue - with its pale stone buildings and lined with trees that are heavily manicured (square cut) in the French fashion.

Avenue Thiers

While he was attempting to get both hands and what felt like half of his tool-kit in my mouth(!), he started asking me the usual questions.. as they do! "Where are you going for your holidays..?" Response: "Aaaarr- aaarrgghhh.." He then told me that there used to be a Monsieur Armstrong, an old Englishman, who lived next door to his surgery. He said Mr Armstrong was a widower who had been married to a lady from Bayonne - a beauty apparently. He'd been a pilot in the RAF during WWII and had lived in Bayonne for many years. Ten years ago, when Mr Armstrong was 85, he hadn't been seen by his neighbours for a while so finally the police were called to break his door down. He was found stone cold, slumped in an armchair with a bottle of whisky in front of him.. A sad end, but I suppose there are worse ways to go. I must admit that I did wonder on the way home if that would be my destiny too..? I'd better get some (more) practice in! 

15th January 2011. I'm glad I crawled out of a warm bed early this morning to go down to the club - it was low tide and the river was still. There was a cloudless blue sky but it wasn't warm in the shadows. There was a good turnout this morning and we managed to put an VIII out on the water plus four IVs, several double scullers and singles. We took a coxless quad sculler out (2 nanas & 2 mecs) and it was unanimously agreed (by all apart from me!) that I should stroke it. At this point I should add I've not stroked a coxless four before. For any non-oarsmen reading this, steering is controlled by 'stroke' (me), with the rudder cable attached to the toe of my right shoe, which can pivot about the ball of the foot, moving the cable left or right. There was a total range of movement of about 3" (7.5cm) with the null position - ie, a dead straight rudder - in the centre. With the rudder centralised, the position of my right shoe was North/South - ie, straight up and down.  Unfortunately, when I'm rowing, my feet tend to settle at a "5 to 1" position (think clock) with the net result that the boat had a permanent tendency to turn to the left. I found it difficult to turn my right foot in to a "5 to" position and row at the same time.  We zigzagged our way up-river - with me zigging when I should have been zagging -  through a low steamy mist which lay on the river - every now and again we'd burst out of the shadows into a sunlit cloud of golden mist.. very photogenic. In fact, I spotted a photographer on the bank taking pictures of us. Great morning to be out on the river. We did 14km this morning - most of which was in a straight line! (Running total: 372km). 

As it was a bright blue afternoon, Madame and I set off for Biarritz once I'd found my sunglasses. We parked on the cliffs near the lighthouse that overlooks the Grande Plage. As we looked south towards Biarritz, the sea was a dazzling silver as it reflected the bright sunlight:

There were some major rollers sweeping in and surfers could be seen getting entangled with them. The coast road in to the centre is the Avenue de l'Impératrice (Empress Avenue in yer Anglo-Saxon - think it sounds better in French!) and it is lined with over-sized houses built during Biarritz's heyday about 100 years ago when it was the go-to destination for the rich and famous. The style could be described as exotic eclecticism. That's to say, they are a unique merging of a number of styles - heavily gabled Basque, Art Deco, fantasy castle, Norman, Spanish hacienda & French Empire - that's only to be found at Biarritz. Many appear to have been sub-divided into apartments but there are still several that remain under single occupancy. These have no price. At the bottom of the hill lies the truly magnificent 5 star Hôtel du Palais - one of the world's great hotels. I can just see myself shuffling into their elegant bar in my cardigan and slippers for a pre-dinner sundowner.. 

Turning right at the Palais, we headed down to the beach and the promenade. The sea was a sight to behold - surging waves were rolling in and breaking in confused explosions of foam. There appeared to be a strong undertow as incoming waves were colliding spectacularly with the outgoing remains of previous ones. And as each new wave crested just prior to breaking, steam-like spray would blow backwards off the top and a silvery mist hung over the beach. It was hot work sitting on the low wall watching the sea and there were even a few sun worshippers stripped down for bronzing action on the beach - some in bikinis (yes, in mid January!). After 15 minutes or so we decided we'd move before we were cooked through. (The temperature in the sun must have been upwards of 20°C)     

We walked up from the beach to the restored Art Deco Hotel Plaza where we sat outside for a coffee. It was so warm there we both took our jackets off.. So, Biarritz in January - what's it like I hear you ask..? Where to start..?

While I'm pondering that, enjoy the deceptive simplicity of Beethoven's 7th Symphony, the Second Movement (Allegretto)..

A couple of high quality flash mobs to finish with.. 

And this one filmed at the celebrated Café Iruña, Pamplona (another favourite resting place of a certain Mr E Hemingway).. 

And now back to our regular programming..!

105. Monsieur Montezuma I presume..?

8th January 2011. Good long outing in an VIII sculler this morning. We went out to the turnaround in one long piece and returned without stopping.. There were some muffled sounds of pain disguised as heavy breathing or coughing on the return leg.. and not just from me! Did 15km (Running total 358km). It was the annual general meeting at the club in the evening and I was pleased that I could follow most of the discourse. Afterwards, France being France, there was a magnificent buffet of charcuterie (jambon de Bayonne, salami, boudin noir), cheese and assorted nibbles - and a nice Bordeaux. I walked home! 

10th January 2011. There's a bug doing the rounds around here and in the wee small hours of last night I became acquainted with a certain Mr Montezuma and, in particular, his revenge.. so talk among yourselves for a while!

11th January 2011. For some reason I woke up this morning with this piece playing in my head.. one of my favourite choral works - it's Handel's "Zadok the Priest" - a work written as a coronation anthem. There's something about the phrase at 1:18 and the few bars that follow that never fail to send a shiver through me. This is an excellent interpretation:
 And as we're dealing with powerful music, what better than Widor's Toccata.. otherwise known in this household as "damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!" This is music to be felt reverberating through the chest - especially when the organist uses the foot pedals - and 99% of PC speakers or headphones simply aren't up to the task. (another great piece here)

Looking at the above clip has just reminded me that I've neglected to mention in any detail the beautiful Gothic cathedral at Bayonne. Let me put that right without any further ado: 

And here's a clip of Bayonne while we're here - the compiler has included a couple of bonus ones from Bayonne, New Jersey as well!

I spotted this clip while searching on YouTube.. it's a 1930s Bentley with a 27 litre Rolls-Royce Merlin engine shoehorned in.. (yes, the very same one that powered the Spitfire). I have to say that I'd jump at the chance to drive this behemoth. I think an apt name for it would be the Bentley Montezuma!

104. New Year's Eve aka St Sylvestre

31st December 2010. Phew..! We've been taking a break from the pleasures of the Christmas table since our visitors left on Tuesday. A whole slew of rich vittles have flowed under the bridge since I was last here in Blogistan but now we're closing the lock gates for a few days (after tonight!).

Last Monday we took our visitors to San Sebastian - they'd not been there before and they were both impressed by its style and the splendour of its baroque architecture. The weather was also favourable - think it was around 14-15°C and sunny.

After taking in a few of the grand boulevards and a stroll along the sea front of La Concha we went to the old part of town to - no prizes for guessing - Bar Aralar (our fave!) for a few pintxos and a humungous sangria.

We were in St Jean de Luz a couple of days ago and the temperature was an almost sultry 21°C! We sat outside and enjoyed a drink in the sunshine.

Yesterday we had a phone call from Madame D from our old gite in Villefranque where we stayed for 5 months in 2007/8 when we first arrived.. She's kindly invited us for lunch this Sunday. Who says the Basques keep to themselves..?

Now all that remains is the question of finding a suitable New Year's resolution.. hmm.

1st January 2011. Happy New Year to all.. If you find yourself sitting in front of your computer today feeling just a tad jaded.. then here's something to take your mind off it for a few minutes. Often copied, never equalled - it's that memorable car chase from "Bullitt", featuring the late Steve McQueen. And if you tell me the downhill sequences don't have you hanging on to your desktop - I'm sorry, I simply won't believe you! Enjoy! (but don't blame me if you spill your Horlicks!) Edited to add: I've just read that Peter Yates has died..

Question du Jour: how many times does that green VW Beetle get overtaken..?

Django Reinhardt demonstrates his complete mastery of the Manouche guitar here aided by Stephane Grappelli on the violin:

The streets of Bayonne were almost entirely devoid of cars and passersby this New Year's morning when I wandered into the unusually quiet centre to find a baker who was open for business. All the usual suspects were closed so I started looking for someone, anyone, carrying a baguette. Among those like me in search of a baguette were a handful of hollow-eyed, rubber-legged revellers searching for that last elusive drink for lurching off home to bed. Spotting an old gentleman with a Basque beret with a baguette emerging from a side street, I found the only baker in town that was open.

There was a long queue - an uneasy mix of early birds and party animals - that stretched outside the shop and straggled across the pavement to the river's edge. Events took a comical turn for the worse when 2 young lads - who were almost "completely relaxed as a newt" - decided to provide an impromptu cabaret by joining the queue not at the end but at some point near the front. This provoked a masterclass in righteous indignation from various quarters and it wasn't long before voices were raised and fingers were being wagged. They were all still arguing as I picked up my bread and headed off for home. Happy New Year!

One of the shops we visit over the border in Spain has started stocking the Balvenie "Doublewood" 12 year old. What can I say - except I'm tempted..! If you appreciate single malt whiskies but haven't tried this one I'd say it's never too late. To me it's right up there with the very best.

5th January 2011. Very sad news about Gerry Rafferty this morning. His timeless 1978 hit "Baker Street" encapsulated his experience of life in London - with that unforgettable soaring sax from Raphael Ravenscroft running through it... RIP Gerry.

6th January 2011. Back out on the river in a coxless quad sculler this evening - there was a warm southerly wind blowing down the river and a glorious sunset. Had to remind ourselves that today was 6th January! Did 10km before dusk. (Running total = 343km) 

103. AVE trains

21st December 2010. It was announced during Télé Matin (France2's breakfast TV) this morning that Spain has become the European leader in high speed train technology. With the opening of the Madrid - Valencia line last Saturday, Spain's AVE High Speed Rail network now operates over 2,000km of track compared to ~1900km of TGV in France and Spain's high speed rail network is set to grow further in order to meet the target of ensuring that all major cities in Spain are no more than 4hrs from Madrid. This clip (apologies for the 'iffy' quality) shows the space age looking RENFE AVE train..

And another one:

Meanwhile, here in SW France, there is much local opposition to the further extension southwards of the French LGV (Ligne Grande Vitesse = high speed track) through the politically sensitive Pays Basque. It is planned to be completed by 2020 but a lot can happen in the intervening years. I've noted elsewhere that the Basques have an almost visceral attachment to their houses, farms, land and their 'Pays' and I don't think that the central planners in Paris have quite hoisted this fact on board. It's my guess that future opposition will take a more concrete form. The debate is far from being over.

The long term strategic vision is clearly to put in place a high speed rail network that will straddle Europe and link up all the major capitals. A laudable enough ambition you might think. However, the southern extension of the LGV through the Pays Basque will generate even greater opposition than we've seen so far. Looking at it from the point of view of those directly concerned, ask yourself the question - how will this new line benefit them? Are these the sort of people for whom a shorter rail journey to Paris is a boon?

I'm reminded of the story of the contribution to an egg and bacon breakfast from the point of view of the chicken and the pig. By providing an egg, the chicken has an interest but in providing the bacon, the pig is committed. In the case of the Pays Basque, we stand to lose far more than we'll gain.

As far as I can see, while the spread of LGVs across the map of Europe might convince our elected representatives in Paris and beyond that they are achieving something and that they are doing us a favour, the reality is that no-one here wants what they're offering. Opening up this blessed corner of France to an increased level of mass tourism is not something the people here need or want. The new line will cause local property values to take yet another upward hike thus making it virtually impossible for locals to keep a foothold in their patrimoine. It's estimated that 1300 homes will be touched by the LGV. Unfortunately though, in matters like this, it's usually the "big battalions" that win the day. If anyone needs a reminder of the ties that bind the Basques to their homes, take a look at this poem by Gabriel Aresti that I featured in an earlier post.

I despair of reading about high speed trains in the UK. Our politicians - of all colours and persuasions - are incapable of looking further ahead than next week and investing in long term infrastructure plus they seem to lack the political will, imagination, drive and competence to bring in a major project on this scale. So far, the only winners appear to be the plump legions of rail consultants who, for years, have been making a nice living out of advising successive British governments. All that's on the table at the moment is a nebulous project to join London and Birmingham with a high speed rail link but, yes, you've guessed it, the Transport Minister has his long screwdriver out and is fiddling around the edges with the routing. The history of high speed trains in the UK makes for sorry reading. How many decades are we behind? Our current main line express trains (built 20 years ago) have been re-branded as InterCity 225.. the "225" element being its top speed in kph.. which is intended to sound faster to the long-suffering travelling public than 140mph. I know from bitter experience that trying to drink coffee on an InterCity train whilst dressed for a business meeting is not to be recommended (unless you have a good dry cleaner). In contrast, the TGV is rock steady at 300kph - or 186mph - whichever you prefer. And just to drive the point home, the TGV entered service between Paris and Lyon in 1981.

PS Still no snow! Yippee! And the forecast for tomorrow (22nd) is for - you're not going to believe this - 17C!

23rd December 2010. I went to Cazenave in the centre of Bayonne yesterday afternoon for one last item for Madame's Christmas stocking.. I've mentioned Cazenave before here but each time I step over the threshold and enter what can only be described as a Temple of Chocolat I'm stopped dead in my tracks by my olfactory sensors going straight to Red Alert..! The intensity of the rich and all-pervading aroma of chocolate is astonishing. Normally, the shop is staffed by one or perhaps two ladies. Yesterday there were five in there.. 

At Cazenave, they make their own chocolate - from cocoa beans to the finished product. The window is decorated with beautifully made items in chocolate ranging from simple castanets to sculpted boxes - made of chocolate - for filling with chocolates. If it's a box of chocolates you want, they have a range of empty boxes on display from which you select the size you want and then your assistant will fill it with the individual chocolates that you select from the range on display.

Yesterday I was there to buy a box of Marrons glacés. Once the assistant had finished filling the box she weighed it (having first weighed the empty box!) and wrote the price down for me to take to the cash desk while she automatically gift-wrapped the box. While I was paying, the charming lady at the cash desk offered me a dish of dark chocolate pastilles. I once hit the jackpot with Madame with some marrons glacés I'd bought in Italy that had been dipped in plain chocolate - but I've given up trying to find some here in France. I found an online supplier in Spain but they wanted 35€ just to post them here..

I'm reminded of one of Woody Allen's old stories. He was telling a friend that he had a new job down at the local strip club.

His friend asked, "How much a week..?"

Woody replied, "Two hunnerd bucks.."

His friend commented, "That ain't much.."

Woody sighed, "It's all I could afford..!"

I almost told that story to the lady on the cash desk in the context of a woman working at Cazenave but I decided against it - there's nothing worse than a blank look. My ability to tell a story in French isn't up to it.

I must brush up my Ferrero Rocher pyramid building skills.. the centrepiece of all diplomatic receptions... apparently (!)