There was one day left before starting the long trek back across France to Rheinfelden to drop off the campervan. Originally we’d intended to visit Bordeaux but rather than struggle with parking and traffic we decided it would be better to explore Bayonne and Biarritz.

Grand Plage, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

We parked on the edge of Bayonne and cycled into town. Bayonne, Anglet and Biarritz have grown to form one urban sprawl and although Bayonne looked interesting we had limited time and really wanted to see the iconic Biarritz.

Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of Bayonne but it’s quite picturesque, sits on the mouth of the River Adour and worth a visit. With heavy traffic and not much evidence of cyclelanes we locked up the bikes and caught the regular bus service to the coast. It’s only a 30 minute trip and the bus runs about every 20 minutes.

Le Basta, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

In spite of the town having a reputation for being up market and a playground for the rich and famous there was little evidence of this other than a very large deco Casino right on the seafront.

Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

The town and sandy beaches were quite busy but with so many different beaches available the crowds were well dispersed.

Grand Plage, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

After a swim on Grande Plage we took a walk over the hill and around the network of little harbours between the beach and the headland.

Port des Pêcheurs, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

From here there are great views back to all the beaches and the town.

Grande Plage, Biarritz, France

It felt a bit like Nice, although smaller and there were certainly less overseas tourists, mainly French and Spanish.

Rocher de la Vierge, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

We really liked the feel of the place and the only negative was some signs of pollution. In fact the “flag” system for advising where it was safe to swim had flag colours representing polluted and unpolluted beaches – not a great look and really something the town needs to address.

Port des Pêcheurs, Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

It was another beautiful hot blue sky day. We returned to the beach at Ondres around 8pm and over dinner made some plans about where we might stay the next night on the first leg of the approximately 1200km journey back to Rheinfelden.

Ondres Plage, Pyrénées-Atlantique, France

Later that night there was another spectacular thunderstorm which had become just part of the daily routine in this corner of the country.

C’était un peu triste ce soir parce que nous savions que le fin du voyage dans le camping car était proche. Oui il y aurait les nouvelles aventures. C’est vrai que le camping car était petit, mais il avait devenu chez nous pour six semaines et nous avons grandi å l’aimer.