Road trip to Biarritz: Week 3 in France

So we left St. Quentin on July 11 and began our 3 day road trip which would take us to Biarritz. Our first stop was the medieval city of Carcassonne. We were staying just outside the old walled city and after our drive the first thing Pia and Ella wanted to do was enjoy the hotel pool - which they did! Late afternoon, we wandered up to the walled city. It really is like something out of a fairytale, with its high walls, tall turrets and narrow, cobbled streets. Carcassonnes' history dates back to the Romans and Visigoths but the walled city was completely restored in 1853 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage listed site. We had dinner there and then returned again the next morning to walk around again, visit the castle within the walled city and soak up the medieval atmosphere!

 

 

 Legend has it that Carcassonne got its name from Madame Carcas, who was the commander of the fortress. Apparently after a siege, she ordered the bells to be rung and so it was said "Carcas sonne" - Carcas rings (the bells). Here is Madame Carcas depicted below at the entrance to the city.

 

 

The streets of the walled city are full of shops which sell a wide range of toy medieval weapons - Ella's favourite was the bow and arrow and she spent many hours afterwards refining her skills - she is now a very good shot - so watch out!!

 

 A final view of Carcassonne as we headed to Toulouse....

On Day 2, we drove about an hour over to Toulouse. I had been most concerned about us navigating our way into the city centre of Toulouse without a GPS and only my directions from Google Maps but somehow we ended up finding our hotel quite easily, with only one little wrong turn and very little stress - this was worth celebrating!!

After we settled into our hotel (and enjoyed another swim!) we walked into the city centre where we saw the beautiful Capitol building. It is easy to see why Toulouse is called "la ville rose" when you see the colour of its main buildings.

 

 I loved the old Donjon behind the Capitol building and the girls enjoyed playing in the park there, too.

We would have loved another day in Toulouse, but to was time to move on...this time to Pau. On our way we stopped at a rest stop on the highway which had a very interesting exhibition on the Tour de France in the Pyrenees. We were treated to beautiful views of the Pyrenees on this drive, many of which were still snow-capped. You can see some in the photo below, although unfortunately it was very hazy.

 

 This exhibition was the closest we got to the Tour de France during our time in France - although it was not really that far away.

 

 We arrived in Pau and set out to find Pau castle - a very impressive building. Usually there are great views of the Pyrenees from near here but it was so hazy again that we could hardly see anything, which was a shame. We did enjoy walking around the castle grounds and then back into the city centre, where we enjoyed a cool drink. It was a very hot day and at one point we even found ourselves wishing for some of that cooler Irish weather!!

 

 

At this point in our trip it was now Bastille Day Eve - July 13. So we marked the occasion by attending a military parade, complete with lots of tricolor flags but sadly we missed the national anthem! Afterwards, we enjoyed a lovely French dinner - the creme brulee was a big hit!

 

 

 

And so it was that we arrived in Biarritz on Bastille Day. We were staying in the Biarritz Camping site, just outside of the city centre. It was lovely to meet up with our friends Nicky, Pascal and their family and together we enjoyed dinner in town and then the fireworks display on la Grande Plage. Being the height of summer it is not dark until close to 11pm and that is what time the fireworks began - the girls managed to stay awake, enjoy the atmosphere and some dancing!

 

 We had a great week in Biarritz, enjoying a nightly tradition of 'apero' and days at the beach and in the pool at the campsite.

Apero with Nicky, Pascal and Renee

We did enjoy a few visits back into the centre of Biarritz which had a great holiday feel to it. The main beach, Grande Plage, was lined with colourful umbrellas which are said to replace the colourful wooden dressing cabins which once used to line the beach. I loved the view out to sea from Grande Plage, with big rocky formations dotted along the coast.

 

 

 James also loved the look of this hotel (I forget its name) where former French President De Gaulle stayed when he holidayed in Biarritz - this is the closest we will get to staying in that hotel! But as you will see, we do manage to visit a few of De Gaulle's holiday spots in Ireland.

One of the highlights of our week in Biarritz was a day trip to Spain. Pia has been studying Spain at school this year so when she heard how close Biarritz is to the Spanish border she was very keen for us to visit. So 40 minutes later, we arrived in Spain! We chose the first little town we came to once we crossed the border - Hondarribia. It turned about to be a beautiful little fishing village with an old walled city. We spent most of our time in Spain (a grand total of about 3 hours!) inside this walled city, enjoying the beautiful architecture, views and of course, the tapas!

We loved the colourful buildings!

 

Back in Biarritz, the girls enjoyed spending time with Lucille and Emmeline - boules was a popular activity, and thanks to some expert tuition by Nicky and Pascal the girls were soon involved in some tight competitions!

 

 

 

 

 We were also treated to a live theatre performance one night by 3 budding actors!

All too soon, our week in Biarritz had come to an end, as had our time in France. It was time to farewell our friends and the lovely view from our cabin (below) and head back to Dublin for the last 6 months of our adventure!