Another really easy day’s drive. Hardly anything on the motorway and the French drive beautifully. I think I could have easily done the whole stretch from St Malo to Hondarribia in a day. If I do it again, I’ll do that or stop at La Rochelle instead of Niort (which was a bit boring).
When I booked my stay at Casa Rural Higeralde, I was imagining a cold, grey winter’s day. Instead the weather became sunny and spring-like as soon as I passed Bordeaux. Higeralde was a revelation. It’s a bit of a hairy uphill drive out of town but the view at the top is worth it.
The casa rural set-up is very relaxed. We’re on a working farm and all the other rooms are full – something else I didn’t expect at the beginning of February.
I arrived mid-afternoon, so there was just time to trek down into town
…and get some pintxos.
It was a pretty steep haul back up to Higeralde and on the way I met out of the other guests, a French girl from Bordeaux, out walking her two dogs. One was a rescue Dalmatian. Apparently they were briefly popular when the last 101 Dalmatian’s film came out and a lot ended up in dogs’ homes when their owners got bored.
The girl started talking to me in Spanish but switched to English when she realised where I was from. It’s so nice to back in an environment where speaking another language is neither a party trick nor an intellectual exercise but a basic, unremarkable communication skill.
The night-time view was equally spectacular.
