Over the past few days I had been in contact with my friend Jennifer in Catllar, firstly about a mislaid phone charger (which was found) then kindly offering suggestions as to where I might stay for a night. One suggestion was her friend who lived in Salies de Bearn. This was only about 44km away, so I had plenty time to explore Dax first. I spent a while in Dax Cathedral (see photos) and was interested to see the connection with St Vincent de Paul (1581-1660) who was educated in Dax. Very interesting life, worth reading on Wikipedia or elsewhere.

On the road again, I stopped in the lovely village of Pouillon for lunch, then took a wandering route southwards, crossing the Ousse at Lahontan. I was now in a different Departement, and Lahontan gave the impression of being a lot less affluent than the villages to the north. My route now took me South and up a fair hill, where I turned East and followed the ridge with spendid views either side, to the D330 which then led down to Salies de Bearn. I had tried to phone Jennifer's friend a few times without success, so I decided best to just go to the Tourist Information and find a B&B. This was no problem, and my accommodation was just 200m from the Information Bureau, right in the centre of town on Rue Paul Jean Toulet. I had dinner in the B&B, and at 8pm finally got through to Jennifer's friend. It turned out he had been in Spain, so I thanked him for the offer and wished him all the best!

There was quite a thunderstorm about 7:30pm, but the forecast for tomorrow was sunny.