July 4, 2025 to July 5, 2025
To/In Biarritz
Today was the final day of this mini-tour to complete one side of the Hexagon - one that ran along the Pyrenees from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Truth be told, I was ready for the end. The heat had taken a toll and my body was in need of rest. But I wasn’t there yet.
The day started wonderfully, with breakfast alfresco on a cool and sunny morning in the company of the resident ducks. And it fact, most of the day’s route was idyllic as I rode along the Adour River on its way to the Bay of Biscay.
It was almost ten before VG and I made our way down the hill to the Gaves Réunis, a short distance before it joined the Adour River. Despite Eric’s warning of summer traffic along the river road, there were few cars and I kept a good pace until rejoining the Sudvélo near Urt. For the next eight miles, the route hugged the Adour River, with occasional forays through cornfields and woodlands.
It had warmed considerably by the time I reached the riverside core of Bayonne and as breakfast had been on the thin side I decided to stop for a proper lunch. I found a nice spot in the shade at Café du Théatre where I downed two carafes of water and enjoyed the plat du jour while people watching.
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After lunch, I followed the well-marked bike lanes of Vélosud/Eurovelo 1 towards Biarritz, a route that took me past the port of Bayonne and a string of beaches along the Bay of Biscay. The coastline and beaches were hidden behind fancy golf resorts and spas so I took a short detour to La Plage des Sables d’Or where Vivien George posed for photos and I took in the sea breeze.
On returning to EV1, I took the wrong spoke at a round-about, which led me back down toward the coast. It seemed a common error, as I learned from a family of four from New Zealand who'd made a similar mistake on their way down the coast from Bordeaux. The consolation prize was some fine views of the coast towards the Biarritz Lighthouse.
Unfortunately, it was not my final routing error of the day. I arrived in the luxury seaside city of Biarritz as the afternoon sun cast a glare on my phone that made it difficult to see the route, a challenge compounded by grubby fingerprints and the beads of sweat falling from my brow. Because the city is built on a hillside, a wrong turn led to a quick descent and a slow crawl back to the original route in heavy pedestrian traffic and disappearing bicycle lanes. I eventually resorted to walking a short ways until I was off the congested main street at which point I remounted and found my hotel.
After cleaning up, I did a bit of exploring of the port area before sitting down to a delicious dinner of oysters and a tomato/burrata salad. It was a fine meal to celebrate the completion of my first leg of the hexagon.
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July 4 and 5 Exploring Biarritz
I’ve chosen to combine the photos from two walk-abouts in Biarritz into this one section. The first set of pictures are taken the afternoon/evening of my arrival while the second set is from the following morning. At neither time did I stray far from my hotel near the old port, and the narrative is largely limited to the captions.
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I revisited the old port the following morning when the eastern sunlight was better for taking pictures.
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Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 1,111 miles (1,788 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
I have enjoyed your journal and your photographs so thank you for taking time and effort to share that. I know that keeping up a blog involves work!!
2 days ago