Beautiful Biarritz

Not a bad place for a holiday...

Bilbao

We went to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim - the building was amazing from any angle ....

Inside there were 2 exhibitions - Henri Rousseau was great, Anish Kaspoor was crap.

Has it aged well?

On Wednesday we had a nice dinner at a local auberge. They had on display some wine of a fair age - we didn't try any.

Grand designs (cont.)

Our friends' development project includes access to the local river.

The plaque is dated 1783

Bronwen observed one of the artisans working on the project spraying weeds. She asked him if it wasn't dangerous to be doing so without a protective mask. He, an ex New Zealand rugby player who had settled in France many years ago, replied: "Not as dangerous as some of the red wine around here."

Grand Designs

Our friends have bought an 18th century villa near Bardos, which is near Biarritz in Pays Basque. They are renovating it with great creativity and enthusiasm ...

It is of course necessary to have a few goats on the property.

Listening in

During our last breakfast at Villa Soro I could not help overhearing, and wondering what was the context of, snippets of conversation from the couple at the table behind us ...


Snippet number 1:
He: I'm not nearly as visionary as you. (On seeing the woman in question, Bronwen felt she looked nothing like a visionary)

Snippet number 2:
He: So how did you feel?
She: I felt fine till near the end of the concert and then what happened ruined it all for me.

Snippet number 3:
He: So, are we friends again?
She (sceptically): Hmmmmmmm

Adios, San Sebastian

Tonight is our last night in San Sebastian.

We enjoyed a very pleasant tapas based dinner down near the beach at Bar Kepa and then returned to the our "small" hotel, Villa Soro, for a (relatively) early night.

Villa Soro

Bronwen at our window

Tomorrow we're due to return to France to catch up with friends in Bardos, near Biarritz.