I heard Colin’s alarm go off in his tent at seven, but didn’t actually rouse myself until just after eight.  The outdoor showers are great – the ‘stalls’ are behind curtains, and look out over the valley and hills beyond, and you look up at a lovely large tree.  You push a button and get a really nice flow of hot water for about a minute – just keep pushing as many times as you like.

When I got back to camp I was informed, very nicely, that I had made a boo-boo when packing up the cooler.  Not only had I forgotten to bring the eggs (and carrots), but I hadn’t sealed the lid properly on my olives and feta-cheese containers.  There was olive and cheese juice all over everything in the bottom of the cooler – oops!

After cleaning it all up I enjoyed a lovely cup of hot tea, and breakfast of fried mushrooms, tomatoes and bacon – would have been a great frittata, except for no eggs.

After the dishes were done we thought it would be a good idea to find our ‘spot’ for the ITT.  We had decided to find the spot and I would stay there with the table and chairs while Colin went and did some shopping, then leave the car there to save our spot while we walked back to the campground for the night.

As it turned out we didn’t have to leave the car.  We drove along the route a bit and pulled in where a bunch of campervans were, but realized that they weren’t very welcoming and likely were waiting for friends to arrive, so kept going.  We then figured we’d gone too far – it wouldn’t be close enough to walk back to the campsite if we needed to so turned around and went back to another place we’d passed.

It was perfect – just at the end of a small climb, and the verge was just wide enough for the car.  There was a fellow sitting in the shade across the road and we started talking with him – turns out he’s Dutch and actually offered to save a spot for the car in front of his campervan!  So instead of sitting at the side of the road all day reading to save our spot – which I was fully prepared to do – I got to go into Saint-Jean-de-Luz instead.

St-Jean is a beautiful town right on the ocean – just south of Biarritz.  We found a parking spot right next to the seaside and walked along the boardwalk a bit.  It’s a very touristy place, but at the same time extremely appealing in it’s own way. There are several really nice beaches and you can see the Pyranees in the distance.

Back towards Souraide more campers keep arriving all along the route – the roadsides in the wider spots are filling up, as is the campground.  I’m a bit surprised at the number of tents.

There are quite a few kids at the campground, some very young, with bikes – they ride around and around and are very quiet (ie – not shreaking all the time).  Had an early evening – all set for tomorrow!

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