It's always sad to close up the house after a lengthy stay: and to leave behind the good weather and drive into drizzle and low cloud. But even in filthy weather the beaches of Biarritz, teeming with surfers, are mightily impressive. Not a bad journey: we cut the corner south of Toulouse on the beautiful road from Villefranche du Lauragais, via Nailloux, Auterive and Saint-Sulpice-sur-Lèze. But with the low cloud, the spectacular views we sometimes get of the Pyrenees were just not to be had.
We found François on splendid form. Danielle, whom I hadn't met before, was very tired after a day of mud baths and pummeling in Dax, but had laid on a copious and delicious apéritif. She didn't feel up to coming out to dinner with us, however, so it was just us three chaps. François took us to Le Roy Léon in Petit Bayonne, and I'm happy to say that his celebrated gift for finding good addresses is every bit as good as when I worked with him twenty years ago. We had txakoli as an apéritif, and Irouléguy with the meal, so François tells us we now know all there is to know about Basque wines. The former is from 'the other side': the part of the Basque country that lies in Spain, Irouléguy from 'this side'. Both very drinkable, we thought. On to the Gironde tomorrow for a few days' radio silence at Annie's. More news once we're home in the UK.
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