Quinn and I had an early train to Hendaye/Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which meant we had only 3 hours of sleep that night. I had a short nap on the train ride in between the breakfast service and beverages that were served on the train. For some reason, the train was 8 minutes delayed. Since we only had a 6 minute layover in Hendaye, it meant that we missed our train. As soon as we got off the train, we were greated in French by a train official who gave us guidance on the next train we could take. While we waited for the next train to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, we went to a nearby cafe for quiche, lasagna, and coffee. As soon as we got off the train and stepped outside, we were so glad to be back in France. The temperature was moderate, the people were friendly, the streets were clean, and we could understand what people were saying in French!
We arrive into Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the afternoon and checked into Hotel La Marisa, a cute hotel right next to the beach run by very nice people. In fact, the entire town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz was exceptionally friendly and very welcoming.
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a small beach/port town with beautiful greenery. We first went to the beach where it was warm and sunny with a cool breeze.
Next, we headed to the port to take some pictures of the breathtaking scenery. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the small town.
We walked up and down the streets around the town. The town is so small that you could probably walk from one end of the town to the other end in 15 minutes.
A shop selling macaroons caught our eye since the macaroons were not typical French macaroons. Instead, it was as if they had been made with regular sugar instead of powdered sugar (like my first batch of homemade macaroons), and some were sold without being filled and sandwiched. They were just as tasty as the French macaroons but slightly less refined.
As we were walking through town, we heard singing from inside one of the bar/restaurants. A group of men waved us in, and we stayed for a beer while we chit chatted, drank, and listened to their joyous singing. The town was celebrating a festival where everyone wore black and red. We never quite learned the meaning of the festival, but it looked like a lot of fun and games.
Outside in one of the plazas, an MC was rallying on a group of young boys in a race across the plaza.
For dinner, we went to Le Kaiku, which was recommended by the hotel and rated highly on tripadvisor.com. For me, it was one of my favorite if not my favorite meal for our entire Europe trip. We were first served a small dish of cured meat with sauces on a cold slab, then potato parmesan risotto and oysters for entrees, then a white fish on a bed of tapioca, squid ink, ground pistachios, and roasted garlic sauce. For dessert, we each had poached pears with a cream, tortilla strips, black sesame, chocolate sauce, ground cinammon, and ground pistachios. The fish was incredibly fresh and reminded me of my favorite chilean seabass.
After dinner, we walked through town and stopped at the local carnival for carnival games and rides. Quinn shot the rifle to hit all three targets and won a tire clock. Next, we want on the Crazy Dance ride where I couldn't stop screaming!!!
We went night shooting with our D300 at the port, then at the beach to capture the beauty of the town.
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