33 - Happy New Y(euro)'s Eve! - Biarritz
Friday, 29 December 2023
It was strange waking up in my own bed this morning and not having to repack a suitcase. I'm glad I have a few days to rest before work restarts in 2024, I hit the snooze button twice before dragging myself out of bed.
Not much on the agenda today, the only thing planned was to meet a friend spending the holidays in Biarritz. She spent several years there and only recently moved away but she's been an excellent resource for things to do and advice for living in the SW of France. Plus with all the time she lived in Biarritz, I received a truly first rate tour of Biarritz from a local.
For example, on my previous visit (my first day of the trip) I hadn't given the Hotel du Palais a second thought. Turns out that Hotel du Palais is a repurposing of the palace built for Empress Eugenie Bonaparte (married to Napoleon III). Another interesting tidbit was to draw my attention to how Biarritz doesn't have a coherent architecture due to all sorts of influences: some Basque buildings, many Napoleon era, and even more built by English people.
After walking most of the shoreline, we visited les halles de Biarritz. Last I'd visited, I was tired and too overwhelmed with choices to actually buy something; this time she knew what were good items to buy and we had an excellent cheese/charcuterie lunch where I learned the phrase "à la bonne franquette" meaning it to be a simple, no-frills meal.
In the afternoon, I made my way out to le phare de Biarritz (the lighthouse); unfortunately, it had started to drizzle so I didn't have a great view but at least I had a first-hand account of the lighthouse working. Enroute to the lighthouse, I passed by the base of the Hotel du Palais where waves had started to crash against the sea fortifications and put the waterproofness of my shoes to the test. When I returned with my rain jacket covered in drizzle, a "ma pauvre" (you poor thing) was uttered on my behalf but the temperature was actually fairly warm and I'd almost been sweating.
I also met some of the friends who had joined her for the holidays. I was treated to dinner of charcuterie, cheese, pain grillé (toast), foie gras (I'm told it should not be referred to as a pâté), and champagne. It was a lovely evening munching and chatting with new and old friends. Conversation was a lot of fun and topics included:
- Differences I've noted between France/Europe and the US
- I've noticed that dogs are allowed inside restaurants and that it's impolite not to greet somebody the first time you see them in the day
- I mentioned that I don't actually know what all the road signs I see mean, some of them are for traffic calming measures we simply don't see in the US.
- A decent number of immigrants from Basque country made their way into the US (one of the group is French Basque and has extended family in Boise, ID).
- I recalled seeing an article about the Basque cuisine and festivals in some parts of the US where one really wouldn't have expected it to show up.
- Various classic French and American movies
- Some suspicious looks were pointed in my direction when my suggestion of Naked Gun was misheard and "Naked Game" was google searched instead.
- Do I think I could live in France, etc.
Saturday, 30 December 2023
After sleeping in today, I returned to Biarritz where the weather forecast was showing a warm sunny day (~15 C). First thing on the agenda was to take a dip at the little beach of Biarritz, where the waves were much calmer and I'd seen people se baignaient the day before. Turns out that there's a polar bear plunge community in Biarritz with a flag and everything, there were tons lots of people taking the plunge today.
The water was chilly, but not freezing; I was still able to move and feel all my limbs by the end of my swim. I worked my way out just to the edge of La Rochier de la Vierge where the waves began to become big swells before working my way back to shore. On the way out from the beach, I noticed that people were setting up flags and gates and there was a booth to register for a race (either avec ou sans les palmes / with or without flippers); as much as I like to think I could have placed well in such a race, I think the only winner would have been hypothermia.
Afterwards, we took a short trip to the nearby town of Bidart to admire the quaint village and la Côte Basque. The town had a lot to show about Basque culture and design: there was an old public clothes-washing room (une lavarie), the buildings almost all shared the typical Basque architecture, and near the beach we spotted some headstones for a Basque graveyard. A walk down the cliff's walkway allowed us to enjoy some refreshments at the restaurant by the beach; I was able to use one of the expressions from my Secret Santa gift "L'appetite vient en mangeant" ~ by eating, we realize how hungry we are.
With plenty of sea and sun, we parted ways just before sun set. I'd learned a lot today about Basque and French culture in conversation today and received advice about how to wear my beret in the Basque style instead of the army tilt. Truly a fascinating day.
Sunday, 31 December 2023
I suppose I've reached the "rest" part of R&R because I slept in a lot today. Upon finally leaving the bed, I began the much delayed unpacking of my suitcase but didn't put away the cleaned laundry from two night's ago.
While coordinating with my friend over a week ago about meeting during the holidays, she fortunately had the foresight and connections for making a dinner reservation for New Year's Eve; so the plan for the best NYE I've ever spent in Europe involved returning to Biarritz in the afternoon, relaxing until dinner at the restaurant, and then to spend the evening as an extra guest in the short-stay apartment to avoid the highway. And thus I packed my backpack with mes affaires and returned to Biarritz in the afternoon.
During the drive, I was reflecting on the past two days I'd spent with this group in Biarritz. There'd been so much conversation, plenty of jokes, a plethora of pointers on French, so many exchanges of idioms and expressions: and it occurred to me that I couldn't exactly remember which parts had been done in French and which in English. I remember one of the francophone volunteers that had spent time with me during my third year of French in highschool (year's 3 & 4 had been individual study with added instruction by two excellent volunteers) had told me that he considered dreaming in a language as a marker for the beginning of fluency: to memory I've only had one dream that involved some words in French but I feel like forgetting which language was used for a conversation must be some sort of marker too.
I received a wonderful surprise gift from my friend in the form of a t-shirt from a Basque store and my very own pair of espadrilles, a shoe that has long been a part of Basque culture and outfits. At first I was concerned they might be too small (the shoes are not made left nor right footed and I could feel my big toe pushing into the fabric at the front) but a quick visit to the store confirmed that they should initially fit tight and with as little as one hour would stretch to become more comfortable. And they were right; my friend was able to guess/intuit the right size for me! Excellent souvenirs to take home from the Basque country to match my beret.
Instead of doing a walk about in Biarritz in the afternoon, we took my car to the next town over of Anglet and walked the length of the beach I hadn't yet seen. The water today was roiling due to the wind storm, just a constant mess of white waves crashing every few seconds on shore. The windy weather all day had been alternating between partially sunny and short bursts of high-velocity precipitation. Well, we hadn't quite reached the end of the Anglet boardwalk before the weather turned on us (though we had admired the effect of stormy clouds and wind interspersed with whipping waves and rays of sunshine). When it turned on us, I got to discover my first European experience with hail (les grêles) and we took shelter behind a fence till it waned.
On the way back from Anglet, we found a free street parking spot to stash my car not too far away from the apartment. After swapping wet clothing for classy dinner attire, we had an aperitif and snacked on the txantxigorri (or chanchigorri) cake I'd picked up in Pamplona (the consensus is that while both sweet and savory, it was ultimately more of a sweet). Afterwards, our group made our way to the neat restaurant called Le Garage, which once was the car garage for the hotel nearby. I give NYE dinner at Le Garage a 5/5: great music, wonderful food, impeccable service, and a lovely atmosphere.
My Apple watch is currently stuck on US East Coast time since such a setting can only be performed by a linked iPhone (and my old iPhone was left in Jersey City), so I was caught by surprise when the musician's announced that it was 2024. In the French culture, it is customary to perform la bise (kissing at/near the cheek) for greeting as well as for celebrating; and faire la bise we did! And then champagne! And then dancing! Such a wonderful way to end 2023 and kick off 2024! From my new friends I learned an appropriate expression for the occasion: it was a pleasure getting to meet them in 2023. I had said "Le plaisir est tout à moi" in trying to say "the pleasure has been all mine" but it turns out the French say "Tout le plaisir est pour moi" (literally all the pleasure is for me) to which someone may respond with "Plaisir partagé" (the pleasure is shared i.e. likewise / the feeling is mutual).
Monday, 1 January 2024
Good thing there were no ambitious plans for January 1 on my part; a late night of celebrating led to sleeping in till almost 11 AM thanks to the wonderful invention that are European roller shutters (les volets). But eventually I was up and a cup of coffee was close at hand. Really the only thing on the agenda was to bathe at the little beach again. Weather conditions were sunny, with a light wind: both air and water were roughly 14.6 C. While the water was probably close to the temperature it was the last time we had taken the plunge, this time I'd started to lose feeling in my toes towards the end.
After bathing, we enjoyed a lunch of fries (les frites), cheese, cured pork, pistachios, and bread (à la bonne franquette encore). As we ate on the balcony of the apartment, the sun's rays slowly returned warmth to our bodies. I did my Duolingo lessons (French and Spanish) while the others began the process of packing up to leave for the real world tomorrow.
Later in the afternoon, there was a nice walk to the lighthouse where we observed the sunset. With darkness settling over the town, we then visited the various light shows (illuminations) projected onto three buildings in Biarritz for the holiday season. It was interesting to see how these light shows were tailored to the building's façade, enhancing lines and patterns in the stone. The themes of the shows sometimes seemed a little all over the place to me but I enjoyed them all the same. One of the shows was projected onto the southern face of the Biarritz Aquarium (le musée de la mer), where crowd barriers had been set up a few feet / a meter from the waist high stone wall overlooking the water. Turns out the barrier was really a demarkation of the splash zone as a strong wave doused several unsuspecting people just as the light show changed from a girl floating on lily pads to a steam punk aquarium 🤣
After the lightshow, we returned to the apartment to enjoy a dinner à la bonne franquette to use up what remained in the fridge as much as possible. Sadly, all good things come to an end and it was eventually time for me to return to Dax in preparation for working January 2. Parting is such sweet sorrow, especially after spending 4 perfectly wonderful days in a lovely beach town with excellent companions. It was truly a heart-warming pleasure to see a good friend again, make new ones, and to learn so much about French & Basque culture.
It feels daunting to return to work again (it feels like ages ago but also as if hardly any time has passed) but I suppose I celebrated les fêtes de fin d'année in a once in a lifetime manner. A lot happened in 2023 and it's on good terms that I bid it adieu; likewise, I'm full of hope and excitement as I say "enchanté" to 2024.
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