France Adventure Day 3: Take Me To The Sea

It was not fun waking up the next morning but we had to get going to catch a train to Bordeaux where we had a car waiting for us at the airport. The only thing that happened that later became a big deal was a pain in my back that kind of appeared while I was sitting on the train.  I kept stretching and trying to ignore it.  More later on that...

You know you're in wine country when you see this in the airport parking lot...

A couple of lessons learned when renting a car in a foreign country -

1. Always pay extra for the navigation system.
2. Always have loads of cash on you to pay the tolls.
3. Always pay extra for the navigation system.
4. Make sure you get in the right lane to pay cash when you come to the toll booth.
5. Always pay extra for the navigation system.
6. Pay extra for the automatic rental if only one of you can kind of drive stick.
7. Start loving roundabouts. 

We took turns driving and they weren't for crazy long distances but all of it was so new to both of us.  All of the decisions we made that we didn't think would be such big deals were the right decisions.  Thankfully France drives on the same side of the road as us and there are lots of rest stops along the way.  I actually really enjoyed driving 130 kilometers and wonder why we can't do that in this country.

Meliss took the first day of driving because she took pity on me for still not being fully awake.  I was sleeping through most of that trip but I was amazed through the trip by how much the scenery changed in such short drives.

We finally arrived in Biarritz where we were staying our next two nights.  Jean-Baptiste had told me how lovely it was and I had already been kind of in the area when I visited San Sebastian a few years prior.  It was still a little too cool for me to hang out on the beach much but we just walked around our first afternoon.  It's gorgeous.  It's a seaside village where the rich and famous used to party in the 70s.  It's obvious why.

This is us being very happy to be where we were.