The mixture of conversations around me at various tables indicate I’m in a place of international interest. The soft music is sung by a Spanish señorita.
I started writing this at the same time my fish was brought to me. And so now I return to writing with a full belly and a relaxed feeling from the red wine.
Earlier I was rewarded by a view of red sky sitting upon the ocean. This is the perfect location for a seafood restaurant.
Unfortunately I have a headache. Too many hills whilst being baked by 35°C heat. The first thing I did when sitting down here at the fish restaurant was order a bottle of water which is now almost finished.
I’ve got my tent set up at a Municipal campsite about a mile down the road. I took the panniers off my bike and cycled here, this made for the illusion that I was racing up the hills as my bike was not weighed down by 25 kg worth of stuff.
Earlier I had to make a diversion. Originally my route was to go along the national cycle trail along the coast. But as I got further south the route changed on my Komoot app. When I hit the foothills to the mountains after leaving the bicycle route I had to get off my bike and push it up the steep road.
I was so discouraged I turned around and cycled one hour back to the cycle route and will take a longer pass through the mountains, hopefully they will be less steep with not such soul destroying inclines, hoping for more switchbacks.
At lunch I had the sweetest market experience in a town called Bayonne. At first I cycled past as I wanted to achieve two hours of non-stop cycling before I took a break. But then I followed my instincts turned round and headed back towards the town.
There was a piazza style square with a bunch of 60 and 70-year-olds dancing to music and a kind of dance MC telling them what moves to do.
People sat at tables surrounding a mark, people were deep in conversation about life topics, what was going on around them or the food they were eating.
Inside the market you could sit down at what looked like counters surrounding various food stands.
I started off with six oysters and a glass of white wine at the side of the market. I then followed this with a cheese plate and a glass of red wine inside to the rear of the market. Finally I went outside the front and had a chocolate sundae with a double espresso. But I was not finished yet and went over to the bar besides the square and had a cognac to finish off the meal. Maybe this is why I have a headache.
