Before we reached San Sebastian, a stop at Sain Je De Luz, this is an exclusive french seaside resort - not glitzy to be seen like Biarittz this is just expensive, expensive and styley. Not too many people on the beach in the morning and there is a relaxed atmosphere with beautiful designer shops.  

Onwards to San Sebastian, its fantastic whizzing along with the Froggies that know where they are going, Rod and I are like the kids in the car, just relaxed with no stress. Parking was a PROBLEM - its August and all of Europe is on holiday and want to be at the beaches!!! Vincent the champion found a park and we walked to the old town to have Pintxos - Basque tapas. We left if up to the Bosses to order and they kept coming and coming, samples of this of that and natural cidre that you have to pour from a great height to get the bubbles - or so they say!!.

A walk through the old town onto the Harbour, we must have cafe and then a swim. Check out the beach, where do we sit?? Vincent finds the perfect spot where Pascal can sun himself and take a siesta. People watching is fun - there are so many to watch, the sea is warm & calm. It was a fantastic day for us and coming back to Bayonne the traffic is light on the autoroute. Once back in Bayonne - I'm loving this city it is calm and quiet - it feels like home such a cool place. 

Tonight we watch Vincent play Palla with his mates, its a Basque sport and similiar to squash however the bats are big, quite heavy and the court is alot longer, the ball slightly bigger and its tough. Its played in teams of two, one at the front and one takes the back - its fast and furious and requires more control than squash. It was great to watch this - only for the fit!!!

So our stay in the home of the chocolate.......it has been the most amazing experience with a wonderful couple that we only met for a couple of hours at a Thai Cooking school in Chiang Mai 2 years ago. Their hospitality has been so generous to us its embarassing, we have had and incredible time and made great memories. We only hope that Melanie & Vincent will make it to the shores of New Zealand so we can show them some of our culture & beauty.

Guy d'Arcangues as Basque Poet said "Come to the Basque country, and you will surely fall in love with it,"  and thats exactly what happened.