Last days in France

 We biked into Bayonne which was a nice cycle path, mostly along the river. The wind was a bit of a spoiler as it has been for several days already.

The citadel on the northern side of the Adour. From there the French garrison launched one of the last actions of the Napoleonic Wars (excluding the 100 days) when they sortied and captured General Hope.

Ok, my final bit of German concrete. (well, there's not much Atlantic left past here for the Atlantic Wall.) An observation tower: perhaps there was a battery nearby?

We wandered around the walls for a while before diving into the city. They have been incorporated into the fabric if the city now, but can still be seen in places. Bayonne was on Vauban's works.

The magnificent model in the Army Museum in Les Invalides, Paris.

The town was bustling and colourful, pretty much untouched by war.

Of course, there was the obligatory XIIIC Cathedral to view, with a nice cloister attached.

One thing we found odd was the number of rugby shops, or at least rugby themed. Bayonne is a keen rugby city, and a few ex-ABs have played there, eg Troy Flavell, thingy Luaki.

Cultural appropriation anyone?

We thought we'd better check out Biarritz while we were so close so biked back to the MH. Unfortunately, Jude's bike battery ran out so she had to do much of the trip the hard way. (Her bike's quite heavy and there was a head wind.) She was a little puffed when she got in. Anyway, with a recharge and a breather she gamely pressed on for a look at Biarritz.

Biarritz. A bit like Nice, but it ain't all that really...

Pharo Biarritz. The climb on my bike was surprisingly taxing.

Still plenty of light so we headed for the foot of the pass that would take us to Spain.

But first a stop at another battlefield. In this case the French counter-attacked Wellington outside Bayonne. There's a memorial to Soult and his heroic defence of France even if he lost this battle.

Toward Bayonne from Anglo-Portuguese lines

From one Allied position to the next. I was surprised at the height of these lines. The French must have been buggered before they even got to fight! Btw, that's Spain in the background (near enough).

Satnav took us on a narrow, winding route up and down hills for much of the way from there which was a bit of a pain as driver. Still, better than slogging it carrying kit!

Our stop for the night was on the side if the road in Saint Jean Pied du Port, a gateway to Spain.