Day 111
Two Eds are better than one
France was not going to let us leave without reminding us just how stunning a country it is. The cycle path safely led us out of Bayonne. Overlooking the coast, we past Anglet then onto Biarritz. Biarritz stands overlooking the Bay of Biscay. Being a favourite haunt of European royalty in the 1800s helped create the resort we saw today. Some of the larger buildings looked a little neglected, perhaps suffering from the impact of Covid. We stopped by the Rocher de la Vierge, a rocky outcrop with a statue of the Virgin Mary. We had to walk across a footbridge as the sea had slowly destroyed the link to the mainland. The state of the rocks, the fabulous sea all added to this stunning spot. Whilst Tom was taking photographs I got talking to Eddy, (Edwardo) and Laura from Spain. We had a great chat and exchanged contact details, as we will be cycling near to where they live and Eddy offered to help with advice.
As we cycled on, I noticed two cyclists on E-bikes behind us. I warned Tom to expect to be overtaken but they appeared happy to follow us. We turned off the EV1 to look at the Chapel of St Madeleine. The Chapel is set overlooking the ocean, and it’s rumoured that seamen were buried under it’s entrance. The location and the fact that it is dedicated to St Madeleine makes it a significant place to visit by Pilgrims on the Way of St James, and she is honoured by an alter in the basilica of the Santiago de Compostela.
We got chatting to our E-bike followers, another Eddie, and Uschi. Eddie had decided that this tall bloke on a bike knew his stuff and so would follow us! So we set off together to St-Jean-de-Luz, a smaller version of Biarritz and with a much calmer sea. Well EV1 was determined to make life difficult and we went up and down small winding streets, had our first push of the bikes since we arrived in France, lost and re-found Eddie and Uschi several times, but eventually we all arrived at their destination together. Eddie treated us to a beer and nearly persuaded us to stop for a swim! It was approaching 30 degrees and we were tempted but we knew that we had quite a way to go and reluctantly said our goodbyes.
Eventually we left EV1 and headed off up some steep hills to our campsite. We soon settled in until we had a visit by a cat. It decided the space between our inner and outer liner was an ideal spot to rest. So that’s our midge/mosquito proof inner ruined, ah!! Still at least it wasn’t a bear!
