Biarritz France holiday
diary and photographs of a budget, short-break vacation; The Virgin Rock, The growth of Biarritz, Basques-Newfoundland whaling heritage, history, legend, delicious cuisine, surfing, white lighthouse... http://porthopesimpson.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Dedication
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This site is dedicated to obtaining justice for Erica Anitoff Williams, four and a half years and her young father Arthur Eric Williams, 27 years who died in their Labrador Development Company home, Port Hope Simpson in acrimonious, suspicious circumstances in the early hours of 3 February 1940. The R.C.M.P (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Serious Crimes Unit, Gander, Newfoundland have recently in 2002, opened up their own investigation about the deaths. If you know anything at all about what happened please do not hesitate in contacting your local RCMP detachment or the police force of jurisdiction in your area. If you live outside Canada, please contact your local police service and ask them to make a request for assistance from the appropriate Canadian law enforcement agency.
The main RCMP website address is http://www.rcmp.ca or Email me!
Day 1 Friday 28 November 2003 Bristol to Biarritz
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1238 p.m. Parked at “Stanstead, London, Mid Stay G5” Car Park almost opposite Bus Stop 7. Organizing the movement and parking of vehicles around the airport is a mammoth undertaking. It’s cleverly organized by signs that begin on the M11 as you come off at Junction 8 heading north to Cambridge, hardly “London” but what the hell - go with the flow.
4.30 p.m. Very smooth flight over. Looking down on the dreamlike landscape of the clouds as far as the eye can see is quite mesmerizing. It’s on such a remarkably even, consistent flat plane between the altitudes where condensation starts and finishes. All of this after the patchwork quilt layout of England had been left behind. In that instance I had been struck by the clear patterns of roads, repeated in place after place; by the field boundaries; by the wonderful colours and by the beauty of it all.
After the Ryanair jet had broken through to 30,000 feet above the cloud cover I enjoyed a well-made, long mug of tea with a chocolate muffin for £2.50 all in. What better place could there be for such a treat. It was a very good landing in Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne Aeroport. After waiting for only five minutes for my rucksack at Baggage Collection I walked the 400 metres or so to The Hotel Amarys where I was staying. What a bonus having it so close. I shouldn’t have worried about the noise of jets because nothing could be heard from inside my Room Number 50 on the first floor. It was “ensuite” with shower and nice and clean and tidy. After a shower and a rest the next thing I knew it was 12.33 a.m. and went off to sleep for the night.
Day 2 Saturday 29 November 2003 A Walk Along the Seafront and a Day of Recovery
Just had breakfast of yoghurt, fruit, baguette, fruit juice, piece of ham and a boiled egg with three coffees (tea was a dead loss.) Since Jennifer couldn’t come because of her work commitments and it was paid for I negotiated a sandwich box last night in lieu. So I am refuelling now for the day and took dry baguettes, three eggs and a couple of yoghurts. Armed with a street plan I ambled into Biarritz. I was amazed by the wealth of flowers on graves in one cemetery I passed. Eventually I saw the sea and continued along the seafront, down the cliffs, in between a house perched on a sea stack that reminded me of the same in Newquay, Cornwall. There was a light drizzle throughout. It looked like excellent surfing conditions and the pounding of the surf and the roar of the waves was invigorating. It took about three to four hours of walking before I felt like I had woken up! My very tired, bleariness only gradually wore off. Later on in the day I came across an advert for the Ballet Biarritz and managed to obtain a free programme from a helpful lad who had called one of the organizers over for me. (This was after I had explained Jade, our daughter’s interest in ballet.) After more wandering about I made it back to the hotel by about 4.30 p.m. with bad cramp in my left calf. After a hot bath, complete rest I didn’t bother with an evening meal, kept warm in bed and watched the generally interesting French t. v shows until about midnight when I eventually fell asleep!
Day 3 Sunday 30 November 2003
9.46 a.m. After breakfast and making my sandwich box for the day it was a toss-up between going into the mountains or back into Biarritz. Due to limited funds I chose the latter. I enjoyed the walk in again although what now felt like blisters and the memory of cramp was tucked away in a dull recess. No worries sport. The sun was out and the waves and surfers were in. I saw the little long white-beaked, white-backed bird again and it great to see sparrows again. (They seem to have left so many parts of the UK now due to unsuitable environmental conditions.) This time I took a walk towards the lighthouse I could see in the distance. By about mid-day the best of the weather had gone. Since it was Sunday, the Biarritzians were taking their constitutionals along the seafront although when it was raining on the way back from the lighthouse, they were all indoors. Out of the rain. I enjoyed watching the surfers at le Grande Plage who carried on regardless of the rain in their wetsuits. The surf looked inviting, open as it was to the 3,000 mile swell of the Atlantic Ocean.
The day just sort of passed by and before I knew it was about 3.30 p.m. With by now aching legs and a blistered foot, I therefore decided it was time to head back the two and a half miles to base. I phoned home which was great and that sort of spurred me into having an evening meal! Local dishes was the order of the day. Fish soup that was like a thick gravy with a slight fish taste was extremely nutritious and tasty despite my initial misgivings. Then it was followed by a steak with a rectangle of egg omelette, a white sauce, peas with a few mixed in squares of onions and bacon and chips. Very tasty. Washed down with a bottle and a half of water. A young lad, the owner’s son I suspected, positively beamed when I complimented him on his cooking. A young, chirpy little chappie just starting out. Therefore I tossed in for good measure that the peas had been kept warm for too long which his Dad, standing nearby picked him up on! After the meal, that set me to rights, I watched some more French t.v. It was quite interesting because a detailed interview with Paul Burnell was going on regarding his revelations apparently as the trusted butler of Diana, Princess of Wales. He obviously knows there is more to her death in a car crash than is public knowledge. I like how the T.V. schedule included a “Canal” channel dedicated to sport. Paris St. Germain 1 Marseilles 0. (I think French football is now reaping the benefit of earlier specialisation, when youngsters may opt for specialist sports academies two years earlier than in the UK.) I also enjoyed watching bobsleighing from Lake Placid and “Gladiator” all in French. After a bath it was off to sleep.
Day 4 Monday 1 December 2003 Biarritz to Bristol
After breakfast, packing and whiling away the day I caught the 5.55 p.m. Ryanair flight back to Standstead and enjoyed another day of travel before getting back home to tell everybody all about it!
Having Fun in Biarritz, France; diving from a cliff at Point Atalaye with the Casino Barriere de Biarritz in the background; acknowledgmen
The Growth of Biarritz, acknowledgments to Hotel Amarys information leaflet; Biarritz, France
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The Growth of Biarritz, acknowledgments to Hotel Amarys information leaflet; Biarritz, France
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Biarritz France holiday
diary and photographs of a budget, short-break vacation; The Virgin Rock, The growth of Biarritz, Basques-Newfoundland whaling heritage, history, legend, delicious cuisine, surfing, white lighthouse... http://porthopesimpson.blogspot.com/
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