Date of visit: April 22, 2011, around 7:00 p.m. Overnight
Continuing with the series other than « the most beautiful villages in France ».
My original plan was to travel to the north of France, Normandy and Brittany, but I got carried away and ended up in Bordeaux and finally Bayonne.
We had been visiting some beautiful villages in the Midi-Pyrenees area, but as I wrote in my real time diary, there were not so many beautiful villages on this day, and after wondering what to do, we decided to drive to the French Basque region, which we could not visit last year as well as Bordeaux.
The driving distance was quite long, but I was in good shape because I took a nap break on the way. Thanks to that, we had to drive on the highway in heavy rain, but it wasn’t so hard.
I was tweaking on the highway on the way to Bayonne, but the time was just before midnight Japan time, so there were a lot of people watching. Thank you very much.
We couldn’t book a hotel in the old town, so we checked into a hotel slightly south of the city. Since I was full of energy, I decided to go for a walk in the old town. Fortunately, the rain stopped.
Yes, this is the Basque Country. Although it is in France, Basque language is written on the road signs. I don’t understand it at all, though ^^.
Well, Bayonne is a smaller city than I expected, but it’s a city that gives you a sense of « art ». Honestly speaking, it’s not like France, it’s more like Spain, isn’t it?
There is a splendid cathedral in the center of the city, but it’s hard to take a picture because the city is so narrow. It’s because you can’t take a picture unless you are very close to it.
I was taking pictures while going around 360 degrees.
This area seems to be an office district.
I think this kind of place is very artistic. The atmosphere is totally different from France.
To be honest, it was a dusty and not so clean city. But the people were very cheerful and talked to me a lot while taking photos. It’s a wonderful city full of hospitality.
Yes, there was some kind of local ham and cheese market, and I bought a sandwich there. Delicious and amazing!
After this, we had a light meal at a café-restaurant, and after the meal, we went back to the hotel enjoying the night view of Bayonne.
さあ明日は天気はどうなることやら。
