Au Revoir Paris. . .Hola Barcelona!

Last Friday (6 August) was our last full day in Paris and we decided to hit the famous Parisian department stores for some more retail therapy. Part of it was out of necessity as our trusty stroller died from overuse and we urgently required a replacement. So we went to the wonderful Galleries Lafayette and headed to the childrens' department on the 5th floor. We found another McLaren (very popular in France) and arranged for the old pram to have a respectful burial along with all the other unwanted Parisian prams.

After some hours in Galleries Lafayette, we headed to the other large department store - Au Printemps - and found a beautiful Lebanese restaurant called "Noura" right in the middle of the store on the ground level. Now most of you reading this blog will know of my complete aversion to eating Lebanese food anywhere but at home (meaning the places I know make the food the way we like it!). . .but this place looked so lovely and we really needed a break so we sat down. The waiters were lovely and very accomodating - especially with the children - and even spoke to me in very familiar Arabic. When the food came out. . .well we were all in heaven. It was so good and served with a very decent pile of Lebanese bread which the kids loved (because they eat it all the time at home). It was just like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold winter's day. . .we all felt so comforted and happy. We washed down this lovely food with baklava and for (Steven and I) short blacks. Yum!

We left Paris apartment on Saturday morning around 10 am and made our way to Montmartre for a visit to the famous Basilica Du Sacre Coeur which sits on the second-highest point in Paris (after the Eiffel Tower). The views were terrific and the church was beautiful. We lit some candles and offered some more prayers before driving around the area - taking in the Moulin Rouge and then making our way to the autoroute towards Goujounac in southwest France.

Goujounac was our pitstop for the evening. We chose this small village for its proximity to Frayssinet Le-Gelat about 2 km further south. One of my favourite authors, Mary Moody visits this area often and has a house here and I wanted to have a look. We had a quick look around this beautiful town and I can really understand why it attracts so many foreigners. . .

The hotel we stayed in was a tiny hotel set in the middle of the Goujounac town square and run by a lovely couple - who obviously enjoy meeting new people as they were really friendly and spoke to us at length about our travels. The hotel only had 5 rooms - but was really clean and cosy. It's main attraction was the restaurant and bar which was really popular with the locals and visitors alike - as it was booked out the evening we were there. We were relieved that we had booked our table in advance and enjoyed a spectacular dinner outside (literally on the road!!) of regional produce with fabulous wine and beer to boot! The desserts were to die for as well!

Breakfast was a traditional affair of coffee, hot chocolates, croissants, bread and local ham and cheese with beautiful butter and jams. Lovely! We then said goodbye to our hosts and got into the car for our 4 hour drive to the seaside town of Biarritz on the France/Spain border for some sun and relaxation on our way down into Barcelona in Spain.

We had an uneventful drive down and got into our hotel at about 2.30 pm. We settled in quickly and headed down to the beach - about 150m away. Though this was the beach. . .it was not a sand beach - just a seawall, rocks and then ocean! Although. . .people were sunbathing on the seawall and surfers were congregated there waiting for the tide to got out. We walked another 1-1.5 km before we hit the sand beaches - but man oh man were these beaches crowded!! Finding a space to lay down the towels was like finding water in the desert!

Here, as I suspect on many European beaches, beach space in the form of umbrellas, deckchairs and private tents are hired out on an hourly or daily basis - should people wish to avail themselves of these facilities. Otherwise, it's a fight for space to lay down a towel! In addition, there's a bona fide kids club operating on the beach. . .The beach was lovely and the kids enjoyed being on the sand and playing in the water for a few hours before it was time to head into town to find some dinner.

Had a lovely dinner in a restaurant across the road from our hotel - which was French but served mostly Spanish food. Steven and I shared a jug of Sangria over a plate of chorizo, Serrano ham, mussels and calamari. Our mains were delicious too - steak, sea bream, pork fillets and grilled prawns washed down with icecreams and creme brulee. Yummo!

We met a lovely French couple who shared our table and the lady was particularly chatty and was at pains to let me know she thought our children were very well-behaved and offered her congratulations to Steven and I!! The kids were especially chuffed when I explained what the lady had said. . .

Day 2 in Biarritz (Monday, 9 August) was raining. Sadly our plans to spend the day on the beach were foiled somewhat. After spending some time in the local post office sending some things home, we walked around town stopping for a warm drink in a beachside cafe. Unfortunately, there's not much else to do in Biarritz when it's raining so there were lots of people wandering aimlessly about the town. Fortunately, the rain seemed to hold off during the middle of the day and we decided to head down to the beach anyway and spent a lovely few hours there - the kids were really happy playing on the sand and the overcast skies seemed to keep the crowds at bay.

Another lovely dinner and our stay in Biarritz had come to an end. Tuesday (10 August), we packed the car and left Biarritz for our long drive to Barcelona (about 6 hours). It was a bientot to France for a little while (be back next week).