sunny again in St Jean de Luz
on Nov 20, 2009 in blog surf sport weather st jean de luz france basque St Jean de Luz is having not so much an Indian summer but an African autumn. After a wet start November is proving to be unseasonably hot. With temperatures up in the mid twenties I couldn't resist spending the day on the beach. Granted, there weren'...

meanwhile, back in St Jean de Luz...
on Nov 18, 2009 in blog people st jean de luz france basque A busy interlude from life in St Jean de Luz. Arriving just in time for a dinner party in London on Thursday I barely slept before meeting friends for breakfast and then lunch. Friday afternoon was spent at the National Portrait Gallery before head...

remembering in St Jean de Luz
on Nov 11, 2009 in blog culture people guernica st jean de luz history france basque gernika In St Jean de Luz today everything stopped at 1100. Around four hundred people met with an army squadron at the war memorial. A band accompanied several Basque hymns before the mayor addressed the gathering. Police stopped traffic while the bells tol...

St Jean de Luz waves
on Nov 9, 2009 in blog culture weather st jean de luz history france basque The sun came back today in St Jean de Luz, albeit fleetingly, somebody forgot to tell the sea that the storm was over though. Looking back up into the mountains I caught a glimpse of the first snow of winter. I'd hate to have been caught up there ove...

gusty St Jean de Luz
on Nov 8, 2009 in blog weather st jean de luz france basque The weather is showing no signs of abating in St Jean de Luz. Unless you are an extreme sports fanatic, the surf is excellently dangerous, it is wiser to be indoors at the moment. I had little sleep as my wooden shutters were taunted endlessly thro...

weather in St Jean de Luz
on Nov 7, 2009 in blog weather st jean de luz france basque The storm in St Jean de Luz is beginning to become fun. After spending the last few days joking with locals that the weather had become very Scottish, today I had to insist that it was most definitely Basque. The sun was streaming first thing this mo...

matador in St Jean de Luz
on Nov 6, 2009 in blog culture st jean de luz flamenco france basque Cultural pursuits are back underway in St Jean de Luz. I have just returned from three hours of dancing. Now that sounds all good well were it a disco after several bottles of wine. However, when it's at lunchtime, involves flamenco and rumba, and me...

St Jean de Luz paddling
on Nov 5, 2009 in blog sport weather st jean de luz france basque It is still raining hard in St Jean de Luz. That's three days now. Given there was a full moon when it started the chances are the dour weather will stick around for the lunar cycle. The winds are whipping up too, excellent waves. I fear another surf...

November in St Jean de Luz
on Nov 4, 2009 in blog weather st jean de luz Bayonne france basque I have now been living in St Jean de Luz for a year. I have had more adventures in that time than I could have imagined. I am also astonished that in the course of a year so many people have visited Basque Bylines and from so many places (over 60 cou...

pigeon patrol in St Jean de Luz
on Oct 21, 2009 in blog culture st jean de luz france basque Today the pigeon catchers were out in St Jean de Luz. There is a problem by the end of the summer with the flying beasties. They are nothing like their countryside cousins who are clean living and taste delicious. The urban variety are simply scaveng...