Tag Archives: cycling

Day 22 – Labenne to Urrugne

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(67km)

Again the night was a little humid, so none of my loundry tryied out and once again I had to attatch them to the back of the bike and let them dry on the way. Until mid-day there was overcast, but soon after, the clouds moved away for another hot day.
I wasn’t up for much cycling, I just wanted to get the Biarritz and the towns around it, which are located at the furthest north-west corner of France, next the Atlantic ocean and the Spanish borders.
Biarritz is a high class resort. The coast if build up with big, old and posh hotels, restaurants, villas and castles. Within the beaches, there are a few huge rocks and some of them have been turned into small islands connected by foot bridges.

Overlooking one of the beaches at Biarritz

Overlooking one of the beaches at Biarritz

My lunch spot

My lunch spot

Nice eh?

Nice little house...

After a short break in Biarritz, I move to Saint Jean De Luz, which is also a very beautiful town, but a lot more grounded. Its center is pedestrianized and has maintained all the nice old buildings, giving it a very nice character and atmosphere. Since these towns are so close to Spain, I saw many bars and restaurants serving Spanish food and drinks.
Looking for camp sites in the area, I decided on one is in Urrugne, a village just a couple of kilometers south of Saint Jean De Luz, since it was the closest to the center. I checked in early, pitched my tent and cook something to eat before going back to the towns for more wondering around. Urragne is also a very pretty village, with again old buildings on the main road in front of the port. I am tempted to stay an extra day here.

The light house of Urrugne small port

The light house of Urrugne small port

The front road at Urrugne

The front road at Urrugne

Saint Jean du Luz port

Saint Jean du Luz port, with the Pyrenees at the background

The alleys at Saint Jean de Luz

The alleys at Saint Jean de Luz

A building by the sea front

Nice building by the sea front

Day 21 – Mimizan to Labenne

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(95km)

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes, was a very strong chemical type smell. Then I remembered the big paper factory I saw the day before as I was entering the town. I wanted to get away as soon as possible, but even if I was up for an early start, it was very humid during the night which meant wet tent and undried clothes. I had to wait about an hour for the sun to warm things up and let me pack my things.

Snail attack on my tent and the bike

Snail attack on my tent and the bike

After buying a few supplies, I headed back to the forest for another 40km on beautiful cycle tracks. The scenery was pretty much the same with yesterday. Dense pine forest and the occasional view of the sandy beaches. The only difference was the heat which today was unbearable, going up to 35.

Yet another cycle path within the forest

Yet another cycle path within the forest

It was very hot at the time

It was very hot at the time

At around midday, I was feeling way to hot, so I invaded a camp site to refill my bottles and throw some water on me on my face. I decided to go to the beach and look for something to eat, but out of my bad luck everything just closed. I find it a little strange that restaurants close at 2pm?

I moved on and on the way I ate all the fruits I bought in the morning plus my emergency almonds. The heat was still unbearable. I decided to leave the cycle track and go faster to the next town and about an hour later I found the relief of a pizza and a cold soft drink.

My plan was to get to Biarritz and maybe get the next day off to take the time and see the city. I passed through Hossegor which is another surfers town and look preaty cool, but I decided to make it to my destination. Unfortunatelly half way through I gave up because of the heat. I found a camp site and went straight in and kind of regreated not staying in the Hossegor, as where I am at the moment there are only a camp sites, a beach and buzzing mosquitos.