Yesterday was quite an eventful day. I posted pictures of Bayonne and Biarritz already, and I put a lot of the historical information in the captions.
I had to catch a bus to the university at 7:24 in the morning, so we could leave by tour bus at 8:20 with the USAC group. We drove to Bayonne, and took a guided tour of the city, which was really interesting. Then we had lunch (salad, fish and chips, and some sort of custard cake), and then free time to shop and go have chocolat chaud in town.
We went to Biarritz around 3:00, which was just about the time the sun was shining a little bit. In case you're wondering why I'm wearing my jacket at the beach (and in all of my pictures), even when the sun shines, the wind is cold. We went to the beach until 6:00. There were museums and shops to look at, but they have a huge beachfront with showers and changing rooms open to the public. It's very common for people to come here to the coast for the day, and be on the beach (there are tons of ice cream shops and panini stands that all serve excellent food) for the day, and then go home in the evening. There are a lot of surfers because the waves are so high (due to the wind), and it makes for interesting people watching. Biarritz is, to date, the most beautiful place I've visited. Its natural beauty is striking, so is the historicity of the town itself. With the little vendors and the boardwalk that lines the coast, you feel like you're right back in the early 20th century (except, of course, with a lot more sub-compact cars and Hermes boutiques). One funny thing: the men here don't really wear swimming trunks like we do in the States. They tend to either wear rather short, loose trunks, or tight, speedo-esque ones (I think there's an example in the last photo of the album, in the picture with the lighthouse).
We got ice cream (their ice cream is more like gelato) on the way back to the bus (I got cafe and pistachio--I have a thing for pistachios). We watched the funniest movie I've ever seen on the ride back to Pau. It's the most popular comedy France has ever produced (more than a third of the population has seen it). It's called Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis. It makes fun of the differences between northern France and southern France (le nord et le sud). A man who works for la poste (the post office) gets a promotion, but in order to take the promotion, he has to work in le nord during the week. He's from le sud. Hilarity ensues. You don't have to understand too much of the language to laugh. I hope I can find a dvd formatted for US dvd players. Unfortunately, it may come without subtitles. Because of the linguistic jokes that take place in the film, it would be extremely difficult to translate.
When we got back to Pau, I was invited to go to a Baroque concert at one of the cathedrals. My friend and I had about 45 minutes to find something to eat before the concert started. Unfortunately, 45 minutes is not enough time to sit down and eat anywhere, and fastfood is not as easy to locate as it is in the States. We were racing around the downtown area, desperately trying to find something to eat. We finally walked into a Quik (their version of fastfood), but when we went to use the restroom and saw that the sink was not working, we left because, well, if we can't wash our hands, what do the employees do...
As we walked towards the cathedral (now with about fifteen minutes before the concert started), we spotted a drugstore that was miraculously still open. We went inside and asked if the store owner carried sandwiches. He said no. Then he said, "But I do have baguettes and ham, if you want to make your own sandwich." And that is how I ended up watching a Baroque concert with a bikini in my bag and a ham sandwich in my pocket.
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