San Sebastain, Spain - Biarritz, France & Mallorca

After spending 24 hours in Paris and doing the whirlwind tour we flew to Nice, France where we stayed for 3 nights. There is a great professional tennis tournament in Monte Carlo just 30 minutes away and I’ve always dreamed of going to watch and take in Monte Carlo. So in March I bought tickets online and booked the few days in Nice at the Hotel Gounod at the recommendation of a friend who’s been to the tournament. The 4 of us took the train and found the tournament which was an undertaking in itself but we enjoyed some great matches and the kids endured their less than favorite activity.

From Nice we went by train to Marseille, then by bus to Marseille airport and flew to Madrid. In Madrid we met up with Juan Salas who, 5 years earlier, stayed with us as a summer exchange student from Spain. Now 20, Juan is studying in Barcelona and it was great to see him. After a brief lunch we got our rental car and made the 5 hour drive north to San Sebastian. That was a full travel day starting at 6:00 AM and ending at 8:00 pm. We got lucky and found the most incredible pension in San Sebastian (Pension Bella Artes) where a mother and daughter run the place with such loving attention to their guests that you instantly feel like family. We were all overwhelmed with their caring and thoughtfulness. San Sebastian is on the Atlantic and very near the French border. There is a strong Basque influence and most the street signs are in both Spanish and Basque (which looks like Latvian or something). This is THE home of Tapas. There’s a wonderful surf beach and incredible harbor that is the cleanest I’ve ever seen. Even the commercial fishing area was immaculate and there was not even the slightest smell of fish. We wandered the narrow ancient streets as the evening dwellers began to come to enjoy a plethora of drink and food Tapas style and the sound of the waves was ever present in the background. It was a wonderful experience and a wonderful place.

The next day we met Matthieu our contact in Biarritz where we were staying the next 7 days. Matthieu is 28 and just retiring as a professional surfer. He runs a surf school and surf shop, has vacation rental homes and is a former Biarritz Surf Champion. Most importantly, he is a wonderfully energetic guy with a great attitude and the boys took to him immediately. His English is pretty good but with a strong French accent which made for some interesting conversations and a lot of non-verbal communication. Biarritz started as a vacation spots for the likes of Napoleon and his cronies and grew from there. Consequently the town has some of the most beautiful buildings and homes, wonderful French restaurants and boulangeries and a vibrant surf/tourist economy. Our house was actually too small and we rented an extra studio on the property where Matthieu himself lives. An amazing Boulangerie was just around the corner and every morning we’d awaken to the smell of the most incredible baked goods. It was like living next to a Cinabon only with greater selection and way better quality. Just the other direction an incredible rotisserie where the sold the best chickens we’ve ever tasted. The surf was great although the water was closer in temperature to San Luis Obispo – around 60 Farenheit. There was a very big swell when we arrived so we had to do some searching to find waves that we could handle. The area gets a lot of rain and is so naturally beautiful we were really taken by it. Again, we had wonderful hospitality, got lost while driving almost every time we went out and slept like we were in basic training.

Our next stop would be Barcelona to catch a plane to Mallorca for another week. The drive through the Pyrenees Basque country from San Sebastian to Pamplona (running of the bulls) was like driving through the wilderness. This area is blessed with so much diversity we were simply awed by it. This is another place we will definitely want to return to.

After all the traveling, sightseeing, train hopping, bus hopping, taxi travel, rent a cars, walking, navigating, getting lost, getting directions, going to laundramats, eating out it was fortunate that we had set up to stay at a Marriott Villa in Mallorca. We took advantage of the spa and gym, sand volleyball courts, huge grassy areas and pools to get in some shape and relax a bit. Mallorca is a beautiful and historic place. Surrounded by the crystal blue Mediterranean it’s chocked full of natural rock harbors, massive cathedrals and open planes with and windmill on every farm. Germans are quite common visitors to Spain due to the cheap and varied flights and the warm weather. Americans are a bit more rare. This was a great place to relax, regroup and plan for our reentry into our lives back home in SLO.