Bayonne, France

The first week in the city was a little more than hectic, to say the least. When I found out that I would have my first full Sunday here as a day to relax, I knew I'd have to take a quick dip out of Pamplona just to breathe some new air. The Saturday before, I was searching on my GoEuro app (perfect for quick trips) and found a €25 round-trip bus fare to Bayonne, France! Who could say no?

With an 8:30am departure and a 12-minute walk to the bus station from my new apartment (yes, I have one now!), I decided to sleep through my early alarms and wake up at 8:16am. Which then meant getting dressed, throwing stuff into a backpack and barrelling down the dead, early morning streets to make the bus line-up for 8:24am. I'm honestly still quite impressed with myself. But, it still meant forgetting my contacts, not eating breakfast and doing makeup on the bus. Just as hectic as any other day from the week before.

Luckily, my first wave of calm came right away. The 2.5hr trip there was gorgeous beyond words. The route from Pamplona to Bayonne sailed through the edge of the Pyrenees, at one point taking us to the top of a viewpoint where you could see the entire valley below! To simply watch the mountains go by without a whirlwind of unorganized thoughts in my head was a pure feeling of peace.

I arrived in Bayonne around 11am, right in time to catch the breakfast shift. And of course, the first place I saw was too cute to ignore (also, I was really hungry which made it look even more appealing). I thought that this would be as good as any other opportunity to practice my Spanish, being so close to the border. I was wrong. It ended up being a much smoother process if I played the "English-only Canadian" tourist card. They seem to love catering to tourists, but not near as much to those who live nearby.

After a quick bite to eat, I walked from the bus stop to the city centre, passing by a historic church playing music in the street after their Sunday mass. I thought I might see if I could find any shops open. I knew that it wasn't likely because Sunday is a day off for almost everyone around here, but it was worth a shot. However, all closed. Even though I didn't expect to do any shopping, I was still disappointed to see all the pretty shops and not be able to go inside.

The air was warming up from the afternoon sun, so I sat by the canal and started reading my first book in Spanish. One of my biggest goals this year is to finally finish a book in Spanish, and actually understand what I read. Later, I added a sangria to the mix and found new energy to explore the city again!

A little stroll to the end of the canal took me to the Basque Country museum. This was a really interesting place to spend a few hours and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves history of any variety. From the outside, it doesn't look very big at all, but inside there was a separate room for each aspect of the Basque culture. I would say my favourites were the paintings of the Basque festivals and the mini-movies about how they made their own sports equipment. Usually, I love the more interactive museums compared to the "all-look, no-touch" ones, but this one ended up being a perfect way to duck out of the sun for a few hours and learn a little more about where I'm spending the next year.
After this, it was time for a classic nap in the park. I walked to the far edge of the city near the Nives campus to sit in more shade and hang out for a few hours. I was nearing the point where I was thinking I had "been-there-done-that-bought-the-t-shirt" (minus the actual t-shirt), so I stopped in a cafe for a final red wine and lemon meringue tart before hopping on the bus back home.

My day in Bayonne felt long and as though I was not accomplishing much. Though when I returned to Pamplona, it truly felt like I had just returned from a really great vacation, and that maybe not accomplishing much was just what I had needed. It was a great feeling to have a break from constantly planning courses, searching for apartments and filling out government application forms.

Returning to Pamplona also gave me a new sense of familiarity with the city. Coming off the bus and knowing where I was made me one step closer to feeling at home here.

And with that, cheers to starting to feel at home!

Until the next post,
- Al