2009 November « Aaron Baillio’s Blog

My Trip to Biarritz Part 2

November 4, 2009 at 11:01 pm (Uncategorized)

So, Wednesday was not quite as windy so we went into Bayonne to wander the streets. It’s such a beautiful city. I love it. We got a great parking spot and just started wandering and taking it in and looking at the cool shops and we stopped at the cathedral but there was some kind of sacrament or something going on so we couldn’t wander around too much. We stopped at a little sandwich place and got some sandwiches then we walked over to the town square, found some benches and ate lunch. It was a gorgeous day and it was really fun.

A view of one of the streets of Bayonne.

A view of the cathedral.

Just enjoying lunch!

Mmmmmm.....lunch.....

Isn't it a beautiful day?

After our lunch and tour of Bayonne, we drove up through the Basque country side and into the foot hills of the Pyrenees mountains to a famous Basque cave. There were actually 3 caves joined together. The guide spoke in French and I even I couldn’t keep up, but it was pretty cool and the country side was absolutely gorgeous. That was one of our favorite moments just driving around in this area.

Walking up to the cave entrance.

Me and the country side.

Our climb out of the caves.

Posing by the entrance to the caves.

Thursday morning we took it easy and then we drove up into Dax. I served here for a few months on my mission and it was a great turning point for me and where I really came into my own. First we stopped at the Roman Bathes. The water was really hot. The sign said that the water is 64 degrees Celsius year-round. People from all over the world come here to sooth their ailments. The story is that a centurion had a dog that was really hurt from entering battle so many times. The centurion was to leave again and didn’t want his dog to follow so we threw him in the river. After the campaign, the centurion came back and found his dog there completely healed of all its wounds. Now people come from all over to bathe in the thermal waters of Dax.
After that, we went walking around town and bought some stuff. Kristin bought a really cool hat and I got some Foie Gras. After we had our fun, we decided to see if we could look up my good friends Annie. I won’t go into a lot of detail about her, but needless to saw she meant a lot to me on my mission and she is just the sweetest woman ever. So, I found her old salon where she used to work and found out that she had retired. But, the lady gave me her contact information and so we drove over to her house and had a great time reconnecting!

The thermal bath. Notice the steam!

Watch out! It's hot!

The boys next to the Centurian and his dog.

Me and Annie

Us and Annie

That was the end of our stay in Biarritz. Unfortunately we weren’t able to go back to the beach, but we sure had a great time. On the way back we had time for one last adventure. We stopped in a small town along the Loire river and stayed the night in an awesome Chateau! It was so cool. Plus, they made reservations for us at a fancy restaurant and so we went and it was great! Not only was the food good, but the boys were on their best behaviour. It was so much fun. Plus, it was just cool to live like the nobles of centuries ago, if just in a little way. Tell you what…I could get used to that!

The view of the Loire from our rooms.

The front of our Chateau.

The tree lined drive up to the chateau.

Aren't the leaves beautiful?

The queen and her princess at the castle.

A prince reluctant to leave.

On saturday morning, we had one more stop to make…to a chateau that could fit many of the ones we stayed in inside! The chateau Chambord! It was really cool with a moat and everything. It was a lot of fun just to walk around and to dream of what it would be like in those days to live there. After that we drove home. All in all, an excellent trip and we the best part is that I think we all felt relaxed after we came home. We sure miss having family out here but there are some perks.

Fortunately they had prepared for her arrival.

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My Trip to Biarritz Part 1

November 2, 2009 at 10:15 pm (Uncategorized)

Well, I guess I am finally taking the time to sit down and give you the play by play of our vacation to Biarritz. We had a lot of fun and I am really glad we went although we had some rough spots it was still a great time.

So, we left on Friday morning around 1130 or 1200. I never actually leave when I intend on leaving! I wanted to leave by 1000 but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. But, as it turned out, it only took us 6 hours to get to where we were going so we were right on time for a French dinner! We checked into our hotel and then drove over to a member’s house who I taught and who got baptised. Then, her daughter got baptised then her son and then her husband. So, it was great to see them. We had a very French dinner and though they didn’t speak much English, we still had a great time. We saw this car on the way down! Super cool

So, on Saturday we hit the road again and made it to Biarritz around 6pm. We rented a cool apartment for the week which was 3 blocks from the beach. (here is our apartment)

The apartment was really cute and had a balcony that faced the mountains with a small ocean view. It had 2 bedrooms, a nice sized living room, a kitchen and a separate eating area that was like a sun room. Anyway, so after we unloaded the car, what was the first thing we did? We went to the beach!! We walked down there in what we were wearing and the boys loved running in and out of the water, although it was a little too strong for Will and this is how he looked as we left…

Anyway, we slept well that night. Sunday we actually made it to the church in Bayonne. It was pretty cool. I actually recognized some folks and there were several people who came and spoke with us afterward. We just went to sacrament meeting but that was enough. I got some information about the mission and the ward and some of the areas I served in. Like, Dax for example was closed and I had served there! Oh well, that’s how things are in France.

That afternoon we went into downtown Biarritz and walked around. It was so beautiful and we walked along the beach and we went to the Virgin on the Rock monument which was really cool. Here are some pics:

This was in Biarritz.

This was my magazine cover pose.

Kristin looking pretty stunning in front of the docks.

This is the cathedral in Biarritz. It's beautiful.

Ellie-Jayne enjoyed herself!

This is the monument we visited.

Then we played in the sand.

Wow, and that was just Sunday! Monday was a pretty fun day too. First thing we did was go to the aquarium. The boys thought it was awesome. I admit, there were some thing there I had never seen, at least not so close up. Like we got pretty up close and personal with an octopus! We also saw some sharks and sea turtles and a bunch of stuff. The coolest thing was that everything displayed lived in the waters in the area. After that we cruised around the area to check out some more sights. We finished the day going to the super SUPER market and stocking up on all our favorite French stuff.

Hanging out at the aquarium.

The local area.

The cutest picture of Will hanging from the trees.

The girls

Tuesday was….interesting. It was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, but it was overcast. Well, we decided to brave it anyway. This was going to be our beach day! So, we packed up a lunch and walked back down to the beach. The boys and I played in the water for about an hour but I was getting hungry so we tried to sit down and eat. Well, it seemed right at that time that the wind started picking up. So, each bite of sandwich turned into a gritty, disgusting adventure. Sand was blowing in our faces and it was terrible. So, we decided to give up on lunch and head back into the water. Well, it was now cold and the wind was blowing the sand so hard that it felt like tiny needles being blown onto your skin. It became less pleasant the longer we stayed so we packed up and went back home to eat. Well, if we couldn’t be low, we decided to go high! We took the small train that went up to La Rhune, which is a fabled peak and the tallest in the area. The train was a great ride and the boys loved it even though Kristin was terrified they would spill over the side. The top was super windy and cold, but we got some hot chocolate and I was able to buy a new ring with the Basque cross on it. We were up there for about an hour and then came back down the train. It was a great trip and absolutely beautiful. At the top, you look south and you see Spain and look north and you see France. Look west and you see the ocean and east you see the mountains. It was really cool. Plus, there are these wild ponies that live on the mountains that were fun to spot. It was a really great trip.