Hu, what, when, where, how, and sometimes Y

 Sunday, 28 January 2024  Between jet lag and black out shutters, I was impressed my friend was able to rouse from the pullout couch with the sound of the coffee maker around 10AM.  We breakfasted on chocolatines and a mini gallette des rois (no token inside the individual portion size) and decided on a destination for the afternoon.  Looking at the forecast, we really had our pick of the litter since SW France was experiencing mostly sunny skies with temperatures almost in the 60s F.  While there were many options available, ultimately she was curious about Biarritz.  So with breakfast complete and a destination chosen, we packed up into the car and made our way south.   The drive to Biarritz was different from my other trips to this city: farmer protests had shutdown the last few exits of the A63 highway and this required us to drive on some local roads from Bayonne to Biarritz.  It didn't add much time to the overall trip but if she hadn't realized that France really likes i

Saturday, 27 January 2024 I got to luxuriously sleep in today and then quietly sip coffee while breakfasting on on a chocolatine and doing my Duolingo lessons for the day.  Earlier in the week, the forecast had made it seem like Saturday would be really nice but in the morning it was cloudy with some light mist.  Oh well, that was the weather in Dax; today, I was headed to Bordeaux.  It's a new activity for me this trip: playing host to a friend coming to visit!  Her train was scheduled to arrive in Bordeaux around 13:30 so I was on the road a little after 11:30. Thus far I've thought that aside from a few traffic signs I hadn't seen before, you don't necessarily need to know French to drive around the countryside; my drive to Bordeaux had me questioning that conclusion.  About 30 km south of Bordeaux,  a police vehicle suddenly merged in front of me, turned on its lights and put on its right turn signal; further study of the police vehicle at highway speed revealed the

 Monday, 22 January 2024 Things were busy at the office as everyone is trying to get some of the equipment ready to run later this week.  I managed to scratch a few things off my list but remain unclear as to how I should proceed regarding the work permit; I doubt I can say just anything on the application and still be in the clear... I meant to take lunch at Carine's but it was full so I ate at a nearby restaurants, Les Forges, where the café comes with a small cannelle Dinner at El Meson featuring padrones peppers as my starter.  I guess it's possible the farmers in Spain arrived at the twin of the shishito pepper via independent cultivation, but padrones taste exactly like shishito peppers The dessert faite maison was a small cake made from kumquat.  Tasty but I had limonene stuck on my palette for several hours. Tuesday, 23 January 2024 A quiet day at work.  I feel like I'd been pretty productive and making meaningful contributions to the project effort, even if it was

Sunday, 21 January 2024 My worst fear has come to pass: the hotel’s wifi isn’t working… 🤣    I went to speak with the manager today about it but the lobby was closed; hopefully the issue is resolved soon. Today’s big ticket item is a hike at les Trois Couronnes (the Three Crowns), though they're called Aiako Harria in Basque and Peñas de Aya in Castellan.   These are a series of peaks that complete the set of mountains dominating the landscape in this region.   That set includes: Larrun, Jaizkibel, and les 3 Courrones.   As I hiked Larrun back in December and Jaizkibel last week, I figured it’d be good to cross the crowns off my list while the weather is nice.   And it was certainly great weather today: some clouds in the morning but clear skies in the afternoon with temperatures in the 50s F.   The drive to the hike brought me into a natural park of Spain and included some serious curvy inclines; I ended up hanging behind a cyclist attacking the hill for a few minutes until