Over the Hills to the Ocean!

Wow, hard to believe this is our last day of biking. The 6 days have so darned fast and we have seen beautiful scenery, met new friends and had incredible food/wine along the way. But, before we truly end, we have about 60k left to bike (if we do both morning and afternoon rides). So, time to get fueled up with breakfast, pack our bags so the luggage fairies can whisk them away to the next hotel and get the short boost to the starting point.

Once at the bottom of the crazy steep mountain road our hotel was on, Tim and Christian had our bikes ready to roll and off the group

went. Today it was 45k along a river, on a small road with a rock wall and when cars came it was a tight squeeze to get past. We also went through Esparaza, a small village that is known for their red chili peppers, They were all decorated for the Tour de France, with the windows depicting peppers and bikers. From there we, were on another 15k of rollers and on some roads with a lot more traffic than we had experienced in the previous 5 days.

After some missed turns, we made it to the bike path that would take us the next 12k into downtown Bayonne on the Atlantic coast. After the wonderful scenery this past week, the bike path was quiet boring, with not much of interest except the chicken farm. We had been warned to watch for the chickens (and 90 year-olds on bikes that didn’t have patience for “outsiders”), so we had to stop and take pictures of the chickens. Pretty sad state when the most interesting thing on the path is the chickens.

Nevertheless, we made it into Bayonne where our vans were waiting to pack up anyone’s bike that was done for the day. Ken and I had decided to go for the 33k afternoon ride, but Donna was hanging up her pedals and heading to St Jean de Luz for some well-deserved beach time. Before that, we were all on our own for lunch, so the three of us found a nice little café on the river and enjoyed a local dish that was a grilled tortilla with ham, cheese and apples. Very yummy.

The rest of our group spread out among the town, with about half of us going on the next leg and half heading to the hotel. The afternoon ride was what Sharon our cycle mate termed “Basq-urbia” as we were riding through the burbs of Bayonne and into the burbs of St Jean de Luz. As we got closer to the ocean, we started to head down

along the water and into a typical beach vibe.

Tim had advised there was a great bar just as we entered St Jean de Luz on the ocean that is a great place to stop to celebrate the end with a glass of Rose. So, of course did so, with Sharon and Rob right behind who enjoyed a beer. Then it was time for the last 5k into town, which seemed like nothing after all the mileage we had done this week.

We arrived at the Grand Hotel, which had given us a beautiful room with a great balcony overlooking the ocean. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, Ken was starting to get the crud, which had

plagued almost the entire group at some point over the week. Coughing, stuffed nose and generally feeling bad. So, once we got in the room he crashed, while I relaxed and got a bit caught up with decent wifi.

Our last night’s dinner was another Michelin star affair, with truly wonderful food at the hotel restaurant. It is hard to describe the tastes, textures and variety we have experienced this week, but you can be sure…we loved every minute (and of course the wine!). We were supposed to be out on the patio, but with the sun finally in full force…we had been in it enough all day that the entire group voted to go inside.

The evening was wonderful and with great conversation with our tablemates, it was a nice way to end the week.