Early start today as you are supposed to have your luggage downstairs by 8:00am for pickup. (Of course it wasn’t picked up till well after 11:00am). A four hour walk along the river, past the Guggenheim to Portugalete. All paved, so even though not a long day a little tough on the feet. Portugalete is an interesting place. First, go here by crossing the river on a carrier bridge, I have never seen this before and it might be the only one in the world. Basically a platform that carrys cars and people, suspended from wires, see photos. Then, the town is on a hillside sufficiently steep that it has moving sidewalks to take you up the hills. Very cool. I’m in an old school 4* hotel so no complaints there. The town has a great energy with lots of sidewalk tables and bars, tons of parents with children, a great waterfront promenade. In the smaller town category of places I have visited in Spain this would be tops with Gernika close by. In the bigger towns. San Sebastián and Sevilla get the nod, although Bilbao has substantially grown on me from an initial negative to now I quite like it. 27,291 steps.

I took the Eusoktren from San Sebastián to Bilbao even though I knew it would be a substantially longer ride than taking a bus. This is the coastal train that runs all the way from Bilbao to Hendaye in France. It was fun because it passed through a number of places that I had walked through and stayed in on my first stage of the Camino del Norte. Got in to Bilbao shortly after noon and walked from the station to my hotel. After checking in it was off to lunch at one of the local eateries. Bilbao has a very different vibe from San Sebastián, but still has a lot of Tapas/Pintxos bars etc. I am struck by how important where you stay is when you visiting a city. Make every effort to stay in a prime location, your impression of the city will have a lot do with where you are based. Tomorrow is my first day of walking on this trip, although I have averaged about 15,000+ steps per day over the last week.

Went off on an exploration this morning. Walked around the point near my hotel, and then, at the other end of the beach is another urban area called Antiguo. This is where the first settlement in the area was, a monastery. The town ended up further up the bay because there was a better harbor. Anyway, this area is now quite modern, and I took the bus to the far end and walked back through, finding a decent place for a burger for lunch. Then a combination of bus and walk back to the center. A little downtime and then out for a few tapas for dinner, then back early as tomorrow I need to pack up and head for Bilbao. Hopefully most of the football fans will have decamped by the time I get there.

A nice day in San Sebastián, I headed over to my favorite coffee place, just over the bridge in the Gros neighborhood. Simona club is the name and they have GF avocado toast and excellent coffee. Strolled along the beach and through the neighborhood before heading back into the old town of San Sebastián. Walked around to a Sidreria on the new part of town but ended up eating a Pintxos selection for lunch. After strolling back to the hotel for a little while did a two hour walking tour before engaging on the evening tapas crawl. Many Manchester United fans in town for a big game in Bilbao tomorrow and the are very noisy!

An interesting night in Bordeaux with extremely loud thunder at 3:00am and off an on through till morning. Largely passed by the time I went out for a morning walk. Then the tram to the train station and a train to Hendaye, about 2.5 hrs. The Spanish and French train systems don’t really connect on the Basque coast so the secret to getting to San Sebastián is to take a train to Hendaye and then walk about 50 yards to the Euskotren station where a local train takes about 35 minutes to get you to San Sebastián. From there took a bus to the old town and checked into hotel. After getting situated it was straight out for some Pinxtos and tapas since I had not had any lunch. These little bites are very reasonable with a few bites and a glass of wine typically coming in around 10-12euros then off to another place. A little wet and windy here but will hope for some nicer weather tomorrow.

Manage to sleep in a bit and after breakfast at the hotel, headed over to Chartrons, the now chic neighborhood where the wine used to be stored. On Sundays there is a quayside market and this was well attended and had many options. I had a half dozen oysters. A number of river cruise boats were tied up and an ocean liner was being towed to the dock. After walking around the area a bit I stopped at the Chartrons covered market and had an excellent burger. From there, walked through the lovely public garden. Then tram back to the hotel for a little down time during the heat of the afternoon. A good walk around before dinner on the terrace in front of the intercontinental hotel. Excellent dinner with some Foie gras and truffle risotto, paired with some nice local wines.

High speed trains are a wonderful thing, and today’s trip was flawless. 10:35am departure from Montparnasse and pulling into Bordeaux at 12:47, non stop! From there a quick tram ride to the Quality Inn where I have stayed before. After check in, off to lunch and then a walk around. Very sunny and warm here. Lots of people out and about because of the weather and being Saturday. Bordeaux is very pedestrian oriented in the downtown area and has a great tram system. I took the tram over to the St. Michel area, stopped for a glass at Julo, a nice wine bar and then walked back to the center and stopped into La Bande de RoRo for a plate of charcuterie. Lovely end of the evening on the terrace facing the main square.

A beautiful day here! After morning coffee headed over to the Marais for a second cup at Le Peloton and then had a brief get together at the apartment with Linda and her husband. Then it was of to Brigade de Tigre, an Asian influence restaurant for lunch with Léopoldine. Excellent food and the owner came out and spent some time with us. Truly a really fun meal. Then a long walk around and back to the apartment. I took the chance and asked if the same place would be available for my trip end dates and the manager opened it up on AirBnB for me, so I was able to reserve the same place again for the end of the month. Now it is packing time as I have a morning train from Montparnasse down to Bordeaux.

Dragged out of bed at 8:30am and headed to a promising looking coffee shop nearby, Big Shot, which did end up being very good. Then after regrouping I went to the Musee de Malliol, which had a temporary exhibition of photos by Robert Doisneau. Maybe best known for the famous photo of the kiss at Hotel de Ville. (It was hired actors!). Some very amusing photos, my favorites being a series depicting reactions to the painting of a nude derrière through a window, see below. After a lunch at Chez Germaine, back for a brief nap and then across the street to the Distillerie de L’Arbre Sec. This was featured in Earful tower podcast and you can craft your own gin with a small still and various botanicals. I opted just for a brief orientation, and Lucille who provided it was a student of oenology had worked in Bordeaux and was very much in to it. They had a whole wall of different herbs etc. Here is the link to the episode if you want to know more https://theearfultower.com/2024/12/02/check-out-this-fun-new-gin-distillery-workshop-in-paris/

After that is was off to look at Pl. Dauphine and then to St. Germain. Some food at Avant Comptoir du Terre and then over to Rue de Montorgueil for a little more dinner. All in all a solid first day.

My AirBnb is small, but a great location within a few blocks of the Louvre-Rivoli metro stop and near Chatelet and Montorgueil. Fun discovering new places in a new but nearby neighborhood.

After an easy 10 hour flight from Seattle, it took about an hour and half to get through the passport stamping routine at CDG. From there an easy ride on the RER to Chatelet and then a walk to AirBnb. Excellent surprise party for Sharon put on by Darren for her 50th birthday at Amatxi, a Basque restaurant that he privatized for the evening. Food kept coming out and lovely natural wines for tasting. I eventually hit the jet lag wall and had to head home, but very fun first evening back.