Chapter 4: So…turns out South France is pretty gorgeous…

We hopped a short flight at the wee hours of the morning out of Paris to Bayonne (pronounced By-Own, no one understood us when we asked) and we took a public bus downtown, getting off when Becky decided the scenery looked appropriately “downtown”. Where we got off the bus also happened to be next to a large building labeled Bayonne Tourisme, which we naively interpreted as being some kind of “stroll in and we will help you” place. Not so. This place sold tours.

Thankfully they sold them almost exclusively in French, but we did manage to find a map of Bayonne entirely in English. This was invaluable. Becky studied it and we made our way around Bayonne for the day.

We eventually guessed our way to a train station. It was the only building in town with a clock on it…so the logic made sense. Bayonne is a gorgeous place. Every 15 feet there’s a bakery, and we ate breakfast at a little cafe that we picked because it was all purple. Everything looked incredible. Everything.

That was breakfast. I got macarons and Becky got some sort of pastry with what I’m being told is Berry Compote. I don’t know what that is, but it was delicious. As was the coffee.

There was also a market, which we were told by a very nice Anglophone French baker was “not a very good market” but it seemed pretty amazing to us. We bought trekking poles there and learned how to say “inside out” in French from the lady at the counter. My French is terrible, but what little I know has been pretty valuable since almost no locals speak English. We decided after the market that it was lunchtime and found a little hotel cafe across from the train station.

This was Becky’s lunch. That’s a fish head. she insists it was delicious but with the cold eyes of her meal staring at her, I’m not sure how it could have been. I had the eyeless lasagna which was delicious and non-judgmental. She got a salad before this so-called delicacy that was also delicious. So far, food hasn’t been too expensive either.

We’re leaving for our next stop, which is a small French town on the border of Spain called St. Jean Pied a Port. It’s where the Camino actually begins. We will be there for a day before we can officially start the walk. Our next update will be from there. Thanks for reading and we’ll do our best to keep you regularly updated!