One thing that is really great in France is that you can get almost anywhere cheaply and using transit if you work at it a little. In this case a bus, 2 euros, from just a few yards away from my hotel came right on time at 8:13am delivering me to the nearest train station at Mont de Marsan about 40 minutes later. The train wasn’t until 10:46am so off to find a cafe, a short hike away. Then luckily my first train was on time, but the second was slightly delayed. No matter, by 12:40pm arrived in Bayonne and a 10 minute walk from the station took me to the IBIS Centre. Very generic but fine, although when I went in search of lunch I found that I have really booked myself in the wrong area of town. Because of the multiple rivers, it is a hike to the center and the action. Bayonne has free Navettes and lots of transit, but I found another hotel from the same ACCOR chain that is right in the center, and a Mercure, and was able to shorten my stay at the IBIS and transition to the Mercure tomorrow. This is the kind of city I immediately like with lots of sidewalk plazas, lots of outdoor cafes, little alleys and just a lot going on. I walked around a bit, had a mediocre lunch and then hopped in one of the free Navette for a ride around to get oriented. Found the covered market, which I will check out tomorrow and a number of churches etc. There is frequent, as in every 20 minutes, bus service to Biarritz, 30minutes, so I think I will go there for lunch on Friday. While it is nice to not have to walk with 20 lb pack 4-5hours a day, plenty of walking is still going on. Currently sitting at a cafe near the Mairie at the nexus of the 3 bridges and watching all kinds of traffic and people go by. This is the main connection point for people heading up to Saint Jean Pied de Port to start the Camino Frances across Spain. I have been through before but didn’t stay and therefore have not explored the town.