Here we are in Bayonne and WOW love it, so different to anywhere else in France we have been. Bayonne is the capital of the Basque - a happy marriage of sea and mountains and is a compact area straddling the western Pyrenees on the Atlantic seaboard. There are 7 Basque provinces, 4 in Spain and 3 in France.

Did you know that Bayonne is "The Town of Chocolate" - I knew there was a reason for me to come here!!!! Christopher Colombus was the first European to come across the strange South American seed used by Indians not only as money but also to make a rich spicy drink; hot chocolate!! The conquistadors bought the cacao seed to Spain and the secret technique of making hot chocolate rapidly became famous though the kingdom. The Jews in particular, were renowned for its manufacture and fleeing the Inquisitions, took their trade to the South-West of France where Bayonne became the first town to taste the new beverage. The church, at first frowned upon this new custom, as chocolate was not only reputed as a health tonic but also as an aphrodisiac!! The "devils brew" however became very popular amongst the well-to-do and it rapidly developed into one of the towns most famous exports. Today, Bayonne is proud to continue the tradition and you can try a delicious hot chocolate in one of the many specialty chocolate tea-rooms or be tempted by the huge variety of chocolates screaming out for you to try as you wander the inner city streets. mmmmm I love Bayonne - girls you gotta come here.

The 1st mission, the market today, we want to buy local produce now we are in a home. We went with Vincent and its so different going with a local to these markets, he gets fruit and veges from this one, fish from that one, cheese from his mate, oh and you have to stop at his friends for cafe for a espresso to keep you going - breakfast was only about 1 hour ago.  
What is life he says "In the Basque we live for eating" - Rod is in heaven!! - me too, if I want to be honest.

We go all out today and get Oysters, Razor Clams, Prawns and Calamari, truck loads of green beans, melons, tomatoes ohlala. We had a fantastic lunch, went for a walk around the city, came back to a sleep - both of us feeling exhausted. We had another walk along the river this evening to soak up the atmosphere and its going to be an early night.