My Trip to Biarritz Part 2
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.
