Bayonne/ Anglet, Tarbes/ Cauterets

Wednesday, 6 August (Bayonne, Anglet)

I'm in a really bad mood and I don't even really know why. I think pqrtly its self-fulfining missing Spain--I actually felt a wave of relief when I got back into France, but now I'm super annoyed by French + French people + the French way of doing things, including that there are no lockers at the train station, chich meant I had to haul my bag around... There's not even a park where I can lie in the shade + I was in too bad of a mood [after dropping my stuff off in the hostel in Anglet] to go back into Bayonne... Also, people here drive too fast...

[later]

My mood has gotten magically better, mostly because I discovered that I'm still getting CAF, which means I should have 560 euros more to spend on this trip. I don't know why, but I'm much less comfortable in this hostel than I have been in any of the others I've been to. I think all of the others ... had good communal spaces to hang out in... Plus, I find it much hqrder to start making small talk with French people, I think because they don't really do it that much and also I feel awkward starting conversations in French when I have such an obvious accent. I guess that was actually less of a problem outside of France; because then me and the French person are equally tourists.



Thursday, 7 August (Bayonne)

Better mood today, even though its rainy and supposed to be rainy tomorrow. I don' t know what I was expecting from basque country-maybe all of the tiny villages I slept through-but I don't think this wad it. I did get to learn more about the language at the museum, which was in general pretty cool, but didn't have as much history as I would have liked... Bayone is also known for its chocolat, so I got myself some of that.



Friday, 8 August (Tarbes + Cauterets)

It is so amazingly beautiful here. I got up at 7, caught and 8:30 train to Tarbes then a 9:30 bus to Cauterets. It was already worth it for the views on the bus ride. Then I got a 12pm shuttle up the hill a bit (after buying groceries and figuring out what I wanted to do), hiked past 6 waterfalls, then got to the Pont d'espagne. After that it was another 40 minute hike to this lake, from which you can see the highest peak in the French pyrenees. I saw it a bit before the clouds came in. There are a ton of people here because the lake is so accessible (you can do it walking all of 10 minutes on a paved road) but it is still totally worth it. I am also really impressed that I'm doing this myself, getting out of places that are easy to go to and really seeing things. When else in my life will I get a chance to do this?


This is the lake I went to!