Surfing Biarritz, exploring Saint-Jean de Luz & gourmet dinner at Briketenia

Our second day in Biarritz obviously started with a surf session. We went on the Grande Plage, the main beach, rented two surf boards & spent the following 3 hours into the waves!

Btw, they're super kind at the surf shop on the Grande Plage.

Hungry for all the surfing, we went to a nice place we noticed the day before for a yummy sandwich.

La Prosciutteria is an Italian deli store, where they prepare fresh sandwiches on demand with a special Italian bread & you can chose from a large variety of meats, cheese & vegetables coming from their own farm in Tuscany.

Our strength regained & keen to explore more the surroundings, we rented a scooter & off we went.

Stopping here & there to admire the view 

the surfers 

& the people paragliding

We eventually arrive to our final destination Saint-Jean de Luz, which we heard to be a very cute town.

We wandered the little streets

Visited Saint-Jean-Baptiste church, where June the 9th 1660 King Louis XIV married Maria Theresa, the Infant of Spain.

We walked along the beach

Saint-Jean de Luz beach is different from the other beaches nearby, for it is protected from the waves by three sea walls, resulting in a calmer & relaxing place, suitable for all the family to swim & play in the water. 

The beach is surrounded by beautiful houses

We passed the port & we finished our walk through Saint-Jean de Luz with a drink in the main square.

We also tasted the mouchou, a local biscuit, similar to a macaron, but softer. I actually liked it most than macarons.

We just had the time to go back to the hotel to change ourselves, that it was time to go out again.

A friend of mine who lived in the region, suggested Briketenia, a Gourmet restaurant with Michelin starred chef, located in Guethary.

& that's where we went for dinner to celebrate our first wedding anniversary <3

We had the season menu, which consists of a starter, a fish based main dish plus a meat based main dish & dessert. Everything was delicious, but for me it was a little bit too much, I should have had only one main dish, as I ate so much that it took some of the pleasure of the dinner away.

Anyway, we started with a champagne cocktail & some nibbles

Followed by a yummy gaspacho soup

To continue with our starters, confit trout with soya, asparaguses & wasabi for me

& fois gras (French people can be barbarian sometimes, I know) with red fruits for hubby

Then it was time for gifts!! *excited emoticon here*

The first year we were together I offered hubby a photo book to remember all the things we did during the passed year. Since then, I'm offering him a photo book every year.  

I include photos of our travels, but also of the little things of our everyday life, work life, etc... I think that when we will be grey & old & we'll have dozens of those books, it'll be so nice to look back at them :)

As it was our 1st wedding anniversary, we decided to make each other a beautiful gift. So I offered him a pair of Cartier cuff links. You can't see them well in the picture, but they're so beautiful. They have blue stones & I made them engraved: on the first one there's written "1 year" & on the second one "Many to come" :)

& I had a pair of Louboutin!!!!! :))) I had a little note with a quiz & the answer was Louboutin & then we'll go together to choose them. It was the first time that hubby didn't choose a gift on his own, but I'm so glad he didn't as it'll be fun to go together to try & choose my dream, red soles shoes :)

Let's back to dinner, shall we? Our fish arrived & it was delicious - though I cannot remember which fish was - & look at the beautiful shell-shaped dish too

Followed by the meat - cannot remember exactly what was it neither, sorry ;)

Then you can have optional cheese, before dessert, that obviously hubby wanted. A waiter will then arrive with a huge cheese platter, from which you can choose the ones you wanna taste.

& then dessert arrives. A wonderful chocolate affair!

As if it was not enough, after the dessert another dessert arrived! A sort of a coconut mousse & lollipops

So that was a special, wonderful dinner! :) if you're looking for a fancy restaurant in the Pays Basques you should definitely give Briketenia a try. In addition to the delicious food, waiters are really kind & you'll enjoy a beautiful view over the countryside from the windows.

I'd like to say that after all this food we at least had a digestive walk to the hotel, but we were actually quite far & took our scooter instead! ;)

More Biarritz adventures tomorrow! <3

Welcome to Biarritz

For our first wedding anniversary, we went to Biarritz for a weekend of surf, sea & love :)

I've wanted to go to Biarritz since so long & I've not been disappointed, I loved it so much, I thought it looked like a little Sydney ;)

We arrived late morning & after having left our luggage at our new home for the weekend, Villa Sanchis a bed & breakfast set in a beautiful house, run by a French-Swedish family.

we headed straight to the Côte des Basques beach in search of waves & lunch.

Let me tell you, the view from above the Côte des Basques beach is something...

For the waves we didn't have so much luck as Biarritz is best to be surfed at high tide & we were told to wait until the next morning for surfing.

Honestly, this whole thing about tides is quite annoying if you ask me...

On the other hand for lunch, we've been luckier.

There was a music festival, Les Casetas, on the Côte des Basques beach & several food & drink stands were lined up in front of the ocean.

We sat in front of the beautiful view, sipping on some sangria, while waiting for our main dishes to arrive.

Unfortunately, before we could start eating, a heavy rain came.

We run inside the stand & had lunch there, a lot less nice than sitting in front of the ocean. So you will excuse-me if I forgot to take any pics of the nevertheless very good burger & skewers we shared ;)

On the good side, after lunch, the rain slowed down & we could have a walk to Biarritz main beach.

We passed several little coves - that's where I've been remembered of the walk from Bondi to Coogee in Sydney *sad emoticon here - as I want to go back to Australia so badly!!*.

We admired the well known Rocher de la Vierge

& we continued our walk

passing the port & the beautiful Sainte Eugenie church, where a couple was getting married <3

until the main beach

which we thought was much nicer than the Côte des Basques beach. We went to the surf shop & talked with the girl there, that was also nicer than the guy from the other surf shop & we decided to go there surfing the next morning :)

Happy to have solved our surfing situation, we came back to the hotel to change ourselves before dinner.

Being so close to Spain, I searched my best friend Google for the best place to eat tapas & Goole suggested Puig & Daro.

Strolling the nice streets of the town center

we arrived at this cute tapas place

Puig & Daro was a real good pick! Yet all the waiters were super kind, there were so many tapas, I don't even know how I've been able to choose, they have very good wines - & sangria of course - & they also have sweet tapas for dessert!

You can choose among the all mouthwatering tapas they have & compose your own tapas plate or order a pre-made selection.

Cheers! :)

It was actually quite cold at night, so as soon as a table inside become available, we switched from the terrace to the inside.

The only bad thing about this place is that inside there's a terrible light for pictures. Really. Terrible. 

So now you know why my tapas pictures are ugly... But they were so yummy that I still have to show you ;)

Green chili peppers - my favorite! - & cheese croquettes

Mixed toasts & verrines 

& the local specialty: small squids

 Of course, we couldn't not to taste the sweet tapas! It was the first time I saw sweet tapas ;)

If you are in Biarritz or around, you should really go to Puig & Daro one night!

& btw, I have other places to tell you about in Biarritz & surroundings, more to come in the next posts! :)

xx