April 6th: Irun to Vieux-Boucau-les-Bains

It’s 8am and I’m rushed out of the wierd Irun Albergue… Some would say “kicked out”. It felt like that anyway. So in protest, I took my sweet ass time to find the border and get on my way… the start of the day was a bit frustrating, I think there is a direct correlation to the amount of sleep I get and my mood the next day… because I got near to zero sleep in the twenty bunk room where all the fifty plus year old pilgrims took turns to go to the bathroom and snore… I also did a bit of snoring… didn’t want to be left out.

Anyway, France is great! I think I’ve been in a bike lane or a bike trail for ninety percent of my time here so far! And that’s almost a hundred clicks covered today! It does add a bit to the distance, and figuring out where to go through roads and round-a-bouts is a bit confusing… but it sure beats sharing a 2 foot wide shoulder in heavy traffic… also it gives the feel more of a bike ride than of transit… which I kind of like… very similar to the waterfront trail in TO…

I made it to the target campground today and have some nice neighbours, the girl next door Johanna from Germany made me a coffee and I shared some treats with her as well and sat and had a chat! And then talked to surf guy Jordan from the UK for a bit and he charged my Wahoo and battery pack for me! I want to remember this experience especially because campgrounds normally are full of caravan RV people and they are their own kind of peculiar… the three people here in just converted vans (#vanlife) that I have interacted with, the third being Peter from Germany who used to build touring bikes(!!!!) and we had a nice bike chat, they are all normal, cool and chill people… this was lucky and it most likely will not happen again so I want to cherish it!

Anyway, it’s nice to be in the Dragonfly (tent) again… I forgot how nice it is… It’s actually a luxury to be camping and not sharing a room with twenty strangers… also the vibe of the trip has totally changed… no more Camino talk, no more awkward meals with strangers… more English speaking travellers… feels good!

It’s already eight thirty in the evening, time to get my ten hours of sleep… good night!

Notes from two years later: I remember this being the first day that I went down to the beach for a swim. The campground was just on the other side of some dunes and then the ocean, so the beach was walking distance. I remember taking a dip in the ocean and my legs absolutely loved it. I just floated in the shallow waves for a while, being one of the only people in the water. The sunset was beautiful, crisp blue skies and endless ocean to watch the sun disappear over. I remember it being cold. The North-West shore of France is still pretty chilly, and I remember the night dropping to below zero. My sleeping bag was warm and cozy and I got one of the best night’s sleep of my life at this campground.

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