ST JEAN PIED DE PORT & BIARRITZ, FRANCE

St Jean Pied De Port, Biarritz - Cote Basque

From Paris we caught the TGV (the French fast train) down south to Biarritz on the Cote Basque where we were going to stay with my cousin Sean and his family. He picked us up at the train station along with is three gorgeous sons, Max the eldest who is 6 and twins Tom and Sam both four, (that's Max at the front, Sam in the middle and Tom at the back in this pic).

Sean works as a rugby agent and the previous night one of his clients was involved in what has become a very famous incident – he was the guy who punched Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll. We went to Bayonne and took the kids for a walk through the town while Sean had a meeting with Mike to sort out what needed to be done. 

The boys proved to be a real handful but were a lot of fun too and it was great to watch them playing together with BOUNDLESS energy.

We then drove back towards St Jean Pied De Port that is a village at the foot of the Pyrenees mountain ranges and finally arrived at Sean’s new house that they had just recently finished building. It is in the Iroulegy area and was set in the countryside amongst rolling farmland. It had a stunning view of the Pyrenees and the peak that overlooked Sean’s wife Marylene’s parents farm in Ahaxe (a small village about 15 mins drive away).

Whilst guests at the Koanga (Maori for Spring - which is Sean's surname) Maison, Sean spoilt us by cooking the most mouth watering French meals for lunch and dinner daily. We also had to put up with aperitifs of beautiful French wines, usually accompanied by delicious local

 fromage, jambon (cured ham sliced paper-thin)  pickled chili peppers, olives and many other yummy treats. It was a real struggle but somehow we managed to get through it all! 

It was so great being in a real home after four and a half months of living out of backpacks in hotel/ hostels and having to lug them to the next bus or train to the next place. We were finally able to wash our clothes ourselves, (as we mostly used laundry services throughout Asia which had varying degrees of success) use a bathroom where the shower head wasn't directly over the toilet bowl and use a kitchen to cook in as we hadn't done that since we left New Zealand. 

Marylene is a district nurse and she was working very long shifts while we were staying with them and when Sean had to out for a work meeting etc we would look after the three boys. The only one of the three that could speak English was Max so quite often we found ourselves asking Max what Tom and Sam had said to us in French. We felt so silly sometimes as the boys would ask what was obviously a serious question and we would have no idea what they were saying most of the time answering with "Oui" or "Non". 

They loved to ride their bikes down the drive and took us on a couple of bike rides with them too which was a lot of fun. One thing that amazed us both was that these young boys loved vegetables and salad.

Considering the twins were four and Max was six we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw them clean up their plates of all their greens without complaint even asking for seconds! Quite often we would feed the boys early in the evening and then wait for Marylene to come home and then the adults would eat and the boys would ask for MORE salad. 

It was obvious that the Southern French attitude to fresh food and good ingredients had already rubbed off on them. This was no doubt helped by the fact that their Dad was such a foodie and that they took weekly trips to the market in St Jean Pied De Port which was full of gorgeous fresh local produce. It literally made your mouth water following Sean around while he told us all about the various cheese houses, vineyards and butchers that were on display. One night we made out little contribution by making garlic bread with the leftover day old baguette and from that night on Marylene asked if we could make it for them.

The village itself was also a beautiful sight to see. Set at the foot of the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains, St Jean is the village where the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage ends. Thousands of tourists walk this route to this day and they are greeted with cobblestone streets and an ancient fortified inner village, complete with old canons still in their placements.

The region is commonly known as Pay Basque and it stretches over to the Spanish side of the Mountains. We went for a walk up a hill to a point that looks out over the area. The local people speak two languages - French and Basque and they also have their own culture. They play Pelote (which the boys absolutely love) which is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat (pala) or a basket propulsor, against a wall - a lot like squash. Like any other French region they are also mad about rugby and the local club team has many loyal supporters.

Being so close to Spain allowed us to drive there a couple of times - yes its that easy! In fact that's where Sean and Marylene would go to do their supermarket shopping about 20 minutes away. 

One day we borrowed Sean's car and drove to Biarritz on the Pay Basque coast about 45mins - 1 hours drive away. It is such an amazing city and you can see why it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in France, especially in the summer. Situated on the beach the buildings and houses give it such an amazing air and feel that is so unique to this part of France. When we arrived we were both excited about finally being able to go for a swim in the sea again (the last time was 2 months ago in Halong Bay, Vietnam). However when we parked the car and looked out over the beach which was packed with people, there was not a single person swimming in the water. We thought that this was a little strange and when we got to the beach someone told us that it was because of pollution in the water??? There are a lot of farms around this area and it had been raining a lot over the last week or so and the run off had overflowed into the sea turning a lovely brown colour! GUTTED! So we just lay on the beach in the sun and to cool off had a cold shower - CRAZY AYE! After the beach we found a lovely little restaurant that by sheer coincidence was owned by Sean's good friend Peio. He served us and in the course of the conversation we found out that we both knew the same person - small world aye? Our meal was delicious - Paella and Moules (mussels). The mussels in France are tiny but still yum! 

We also went to Marylene's cousins house for dinner and that was simply incredible!England (GO PERRY) and France were playing rugby that night and as per usual there were many aperitifs flowing to start everything off. When the meal started we didn't realise that there were going to be more than one course. First up was a local dish called Pepperade with fresh rolls and we thought that this was the main course and even had seconds. Then out came STEAKS and salad and if that wasn't enough - desert too! So now we were on the verge of bursting and with any French meal the fromage came out. WHEW!!!

Sean's parents Aunty Fay and Uncle Mike arrived and over the next few days we went swimming at a friends of Sean and Marylene's place, watched a bull fighting show where young men jumped over bulls that were running straight at them (or at least that was the idea anyway) and enjoyed lovely evening meals on the porch. It was really great to see them both as the last time we saw Aunty Fay was at our farewell in April and Uncle Mike as their 40th wedding anniversary in Canberra a couple of years ago.

On our last night we made raw fish salad and garlic bread to go with another Sean creation and sung songs around the table with the guitar watching the sun set over the Pyrenees. It was a lovely way to complete an amazing stay. The next morning we were up early to catch the train to our next destination.....Perpignan. We got a lovely send off from Marylene and the boys.

 They boys ran along with the train til the end of the platform!