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

 Sunday March 31 - Bordeaux This Sunday morning started off great: by sleeping in 😆.  In addition to the loss of an hour, I really needed the extra sleep.  I don't know if it was jet lag but the previous few nights involved being tired until bed but that wasn't an issue for this sleep session. Once up, we drove up to Bordeaux and parked at the parking lot next to the cité du vin.  The morning weather was great: warm sun and only mild winds.  The planned activity of the day was to visit the cité du vin museum, since the weather was so nice we figured we would profit from the sun a bit more before spending a couple hours inside a museum.   So first we had lunch at les halles, located just across the street from the museum.  Les Halles were jam packed with people:  they reminded me of the ones I'd seen in Toulouse but with significantly less seating.  We couldn't even find an open table outdoors; fortunately my friend found enough empty space at a counter for us to squeez

Saturday, March 30 - Pasaia & San Sébastien Let the long weekend commence!  Monday, April 1, is a bank holiday in France so I've got a 3 day weekend.  I'd gotten in touch with a friend who would be in the area for the Easter holiday visiting family.  In true spring fashion, the forecast for the weekend was all over the place so any plans had to have flexibility and backup options; fortunately, today's plan is to profit from the sunshine and mild temps to enjoy a hike.   We met up in Biarritz, where lunch supplies were procured and I had the chance to say "hello" to her sister.  While I'd been hesitant to drive into Biarritz on my first day in France this trip, I've grown much more comfortable with handling the car (still not perfect).  It seemed to me there were more seagulls (les mouettes)  hanging around Biarritz on this day than I remembered during my last visits; it makes sense that a coastal town with a steady supply of tourists to snack off of wo

 Monday, March 25 - Castets Despite sleeping a solid 10 hours, I awoke to my 8AM alarm very disoriented but I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising.  I managed to drag myself out of bed and get ready for the day.  After dropping my stuff off in the car, I doubled back towards the lobby to dire bonjour to Jerome, the hotel manager.  He came outside to say hello, I suspect he'd had the same idea when he saw me through the window.  It was a short catch-up but he offered to organize a little soirée/get-together for me, c'est sympa!   It was good to see everyone at the office again.  So much and so little has changed at the same time: the work site has way fewer contractors since the installation is now 99% complete (just some finishing touches pending once we confirm everything will stay where it is) but the people welcomed me back in the office like I'd never left.  I even had my old seat and locker, if being away for a month lets those count as "old."   The t