No Hablo Espanol

Today we left Pau at 8:30 and headed off for Bayonne. It didn’t take long before we were disembarking the bus in the center of what used to be a large fortress. Many of the different levels of fortification were still standing, from Roman walls to Napoleonic battlements. The town was pretty small, the French only lifted the building restrictions outside of the city walls in 1907.

And some awesome gatehouses.

 We had a tour guide from New Zealand show us around town. He was pretty cool and had a good sense of humor, but I didn’t agree with several of his historical  interpretations.

Yep, he's a kiwi.

 We were taken into some of the medieval remains of underground Bayonne. It was a simple vaulted chamber, but it was nice to see. And soon the chamber will be sealed permanently from the public, so we’re the last USAC group who gets to see it.

Scary underground ruins are scary. Or not.

 After the underground ruins, we continued on to the Notre Dame de Bayonne. It was small compared to the Notre Dame de Paris, and was under a high level of maintenance due to storm damage, but it seemed to be the brightest, most open cathedral I’ve seen so far in France.

Another cathedral.

 Outside of the cathedral laid my favorite part of the town. This cathedral still had its cloisters intact. Cloisters are small courtyards surrounded on 3 sides by open-air galleries, the 4^th side butts up against the cathedral. At this point I’ve been to many cathedrals, but never to a cloisters. To me it was a big deal, and I can’t really explain why. The feeling I get from just hanging around in them is great. It’s like standing atop castle walls or learning a new sword technique.

Not much, but a cool place to hang out.

 After the cathedral we went to lunch at an authentic Basque restaurant. We had roast chicken smothered in a tomato-pepper sauce. It was pretty tasty, but reminded me of a lot of the tomatoe-y Turkish food I’ve had. We had a fun and raucous conversation as well, where I demonstrated the varieties of “bro-hugs”: the side hug, the half hug, and the handshake-shoulder bump.

Pedestrianized downtown Bayonne.

We split up after lunch, with most of the group going to the Basque museum. I chose not to go because I’ve been to the Basque museum at UNR, and because there were other things I wanted to try and see. I talked Stephanie and Elizabeth into walking across town with me to see the fort. Unfortunately, when  we got there, it was a fenced off military facility guarded by vicious watch-lizards. So instead we took our time heading back to the cathedral and hung out there for the last hour we had in Bayonne.

Cathedrals rising up from the city streets are cool.

 We got on the bus and arrived in San Sebastian an hour later. I had a plan to walk down to the English-style palace and then walk the beach until I reached old-town. Unfortunately, while stepping off the bus, I slipped on the final step, twisting my ankle, jamming my knee, and pulling my groin in the process. So much for the walking all over town plan. Or so I thought.

But at least there's a bathroom.

 I made the 5 minute limp down to the beach to meet up with the rest of the group with the firm intention of sitting my ass in the sand for two hours while hanging out with the others. I had been sitting for no more than 2 minutes when the entire group decided to go clean up at the hotel and go get food, leaving me sitting there in the sand. Slightly miffed, I decided to walk up the beach a few hundred feet just to see some of the rock formations and defensive fortifications. I was a little surprised to see a man emerge from the ocean fully nude. Yep, I’m in Europe all right.

Sea walls at San Sebastian.

 When I finally limped up the stairs to street level and sat down on a bench, I was approached by Alejandra, Elizabeth, and Stephanie. They also wanted to clean up back at the hotel and get food. But they were willing to wait for my slow, gimpy ass, so I agreed and went with them. When we finally left to find food, we agreed to find something close by so that I didn’t have to walk so far.

Blue Cocaine?!?!?!

 We never got more than 2 blocks away from the hotel, but we walked in circles for an hour and 15 minutes. When we finally did get food, it was burgers and fries, not anything Spanish. I guess that’s just the way things go. Hopefully my leg will be better in the morning.