72 - Putting on the (Bia)ritz - Biarritz

 Tuesday, May 14

It was a quiet day at work; almost everyone else was attending a training off-site.  This left me to deal with some US work I'd put to the back burner and had begun to boil over while I was on vacation.  I also started the tedious effort of compiling the data of some 50 instruments from last week's testing.  50 instruments sampled every minute for 10 hours makes for a very large Excel table.  

A roasted courgette for lunch, the restaurant was really bustling today: it was all hands on deck even with a learner (un stagiare) helping in the kitchen.

After work, I made my way down to Biarritz where I received the keys to the apartment I'll be staying at through the end of May.  It's even closer to the beach than my previous stint in Biarritz and is frankly an all around great apartment.  Dinner featured some friends of the waiter and then a gaggle of Irish ladies and a British couple.  

The parking space is just a little tight; the sound of the proximity alarms just about drove me mad as I backed in

Only a two minute walk to the Hotel du Palais

And thus a very short walk to the super foamy beach today

I'm located a street away from St Charles Place; the signs say it's bustling with gastronomy but I don't actually see too many restaurants in/around the plaza.  There's a few, I'll have to give them a try while I'm near.

Maybe the signs refer more to the food stores nearby: butcher, baker, candlestick maker. produce, cremerie, cave à vin, etc.

The TV has a dedicated channel for Yugioh: Duel Monsters; it's good to know the French have their priorities straight.  I should check up on the progress of the Abridged series on Youtube...

Wednesday, May 15

Another day at work mostly with my own thoughts, but everyone was back in the office.  I tried out a deviation to Google map's route for my commute, by exiting the A63 near Magesq instead of Castets, I traded 5 minutes for €5: not too shabby.  

Mostly my day was spent compiling monthly reports for my boss that had slipped between the cracks.  It's a shame I didn't have the foresight to scratch March's and April's reports as I loved those months, it literally took me all day to piece together my activities and notable news based on my notes and emails.  

An American process safety engineer was visiting to the site today; it was nice to touch base with him again.  I'd heard yesterday that he's getting ready to retire this year and a French coworker confirmed it at the end of the day, he looks really good for 66.  

Back in Biarritz, I found myself spending much longer than anticipated parking in my designated spot.  I'm not sure how I managed it so well yesterday, it must've taken 5 minutes getting into the spot today and my car kept beeping at me the whole time.  

I took a quick stroll to the St Charles area to buy a few things: just a bit of groceries and, most importantly, floss.  Afterwards, I enjoyed some cheese and tomato on my balcony before taking a stroll along the waterfront.  The old port was set up with lights and I noticed a diving school building open, I was confused why the place was filled with a snack bar until someone stopped by and said they were filming for a movie later in the night.  

I'm not entirely sure the difference between a blonde and a blanche beer here; I'm certain I've had both styles but never as a side-by-side comparison.  

A little snack on the balcony; turns out it was a very soft cheese

Someone spent some time playing with the sand here

The grand plage is always so foamy for me

Despite the crazy wave action, the harbor appeared fairly calm this evening

Looks like lights and a camera track for something?

I guess keep an eye out for French action films involving an unmarked van crashing in a port... coming to a theater near you

The clouds were obstructing the sunset but I found the lighting around the mountains to be enchanting.

Dinner was near les halles.  There was some sort of event happening inside, I could see people eating and drinking and security people stationed at the doors.  Ultimately, it was the jazz band kicking off their set that convinced me to have dinner in the area.    

Really good cut of pork, tender and tasty with the band hidden from sight but doing a rendition of Hotel California.

Not so hidden from this side of the building!

Thursday, May 16

I needed to stretch my legs after work and I wanted to try some baked goods from a pâtisserie a friend had recommended to me: La Maison Adam.  The place had some beautiful gateaux Basque and offered their take on macarons: no filling between cookies and they looked like sablés but a smell and bite confirmed they were definitely macarons.  From there, I let myself walk to the Cote des Basques and down by all the surf schools there.  Surprisingly, the surf schools were all open just up to 8pm.  

It took me a minute to realize the issue wasn't the Belgian license plate but the being in apartment 59 when the spot was reserved for a different apartment.

I feel it's been rare for me to see the grand plage at low tide 

My walk revealed a poster indicating the Olympic flame would be running through Biarritz next Monday, I'll have to read more into the route.  

"You want this 2nd story door to go anywhere?"

La Côte des Basques

The mural painted here tricked me for a sec; the proportions are just right for some woman to be leaning out her window.

There were plenty of people working their way up/down the stairs/slope here.  Many had surfboards and wetsuits; climbing back up barefoot with a board seems rather tedious to me.

Dinner was à La Belloteka, which was a restaurant my previous AirBnB host had recommended.  The place was very lively and offered an interesting selection for their menu.  It seemed like a mother/son pair seated next to me ordered a 1kg cut of charcoal grilled beef to share, if was an impressive plate.  

I opted for trout and courgette instead of a kilo of beef 😅

The plaque says Head of the Queen but I'm pretty sure we're all in agreement that this is Darth Vader

Friday, May 17

At lunch, another fréquent diner and I made each other's connaissance.  Nicole and I have both dined chez Carine's often enough that the waitress, Cécile, is now on a first name basis with us 😆 Nicole was already on her main plat when I arrived but maybe next Wednesday we can dine together 😂 

A well decorated brandade!

As I was pulling out my card to pay, Carine filled two glasses and a tiny shot glass from a jar of a concoction: a glass for her, a glass for Cécile, and a shot for me.  Today was Cécile's 35th birthday and il était si gentil d'elles to include me 😊.  Of course, the restaurant was super busy but they're a well oiled machine.  

There's a Spy Family movie showing at the theater in Castets; it seems movies play for very limited periods on the silver screen here in France.

After work, I made it back to Biarritz and decided to take a dip in the water.  The ocean is still too chilly to do so in a speedo but the municipal pool is located right on la grande plage.  A swim cap is required, fortunately, a dispenser vended me a silicone one for €4.  The French pools appear very good at ensuring only clean feet make it onto their pool decks: this one required removal of shoes prior to entering the locker room.  

After I got in to just loosen up, I realized something was off.  I was floating weird and my lips were salty.  Hold up, is this a salt water pool??  I guess it makes sense for a pool on the beach to be saline but it caught me off guard.  Fortunately, this was a more gentle realization than my first mouthful at the Coleman pool in Seattle.  

It's been a while, old friend

Afterwards, I admired the horizon on the beach before returning to the apartment to check on the drying laundry and then take dinner near St Charles Place at a place called Kaldera.  The restaurant waitress immediately identified me as an English speaker.  I tried phasing into French but she asked if she could practice her English; and you know I'm such a helpful guy 😆 

There were lounging chairs on the pool deck, but there's no way they could compete with the view outside.

I'd never expected them to have deboned and roll up the rabbit thighs for this dish.  A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

A soufflé with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dinner.  The handle on this pan retained the oven's heat for a surprising amount of time...