Europe 2014: Saint Jean Du Luz, Arcachon, Saint Emilion (France) before train to Paris

Wednesday 28th May 2014

Started to find some reasons why they have good roads as there was lots more traffic. Arrive in Saint Jean Du Luz and stayed at a nice hotel Relais St Jacques and the lady owner upgraded us to a brand new room because she loves Australians :)

Chilli display - Saint Jean du Luz

St Jean de Luz is a lovely seaside town with good beaches and it is easy to imagine it being packed with tourists in the July/August summer season. We wandered the town and its main square and found a nice looking place for dinner where AR had a grande salad and SR a perfectly cooked grilled salmon in red pepper sauce.

Had an English couple on a table to our left and a couple from South Australia at a table to our right and when they picked up our Australians accents they were keen to say hello. The Australian couple who love horse racing (their daughter is race trainer Kirsty Mooney) insist when we get to Paris we must go to Chantilly races and to get the train there and then walk through the forest to the racetrack - so that is now on the agenda for our week in Paris.

Thursday 29 May

Loving these noon checkouts, after a wander around town and the market it is luggage to the car and a two hour drive to Arcachon, a seaside town about an hour east of Bordeaux known for its oysters and seafood. The set lunch menu at Kaiku in St Jean de Luz was very highly recommended but we will save that for our next visit.

Found Arcachon to be much bigger than we expected. Tons of lowrise units, miles of sandy beach and a huge calm harbour full of boats and moorings. An esplanade boardwalk for pedestrians and bikes link the beaches and harbour and the streets of low-rise units are lined with ground floor shopping. It reminded us of the Sunshine Coast in Qld, but with lots more dogs!

Grape machinery on the road

Friday 30th May 2014

Decided our last day in this area to take a little detour on the way back to Bordeaux to include at least one of their famous wine regions, Saint Emilion it had to be. Pedestrian only within its medieval walls and vineyards for as far as the eye can see outside of them. It was a real picture and the camera got a workout.

Back on the highway, arrive in Bordeaux and returned the car with no dents, 255 Euros for 11 days and checked into our cheap hotel near Bordeaux train station $A83. Found a Thai restaurant nearby, Comptoir d'Indochine, food was good and it was fairly easy to order as lots of thai names in the menu. Back to our hotel to post the diary and get ready for Saturday races which means AR getting up at 2am as well as 4am. Train to Paris in the morning at 11am.