There and Back Again

We left San Sebastian on Tuesday morning. Well actually, we drove around the city at least 5 times as Jordi tried to figure out the stick shift and I tried to read the incredibly vague maps we got for free from the Tourist office. We made it out of the city only to be greeted by about 20 roundabouts, and proceeded to zigzag our way from toll road to street road (which are parrellel to eachother, and connected with about 20 roundabouts) until we actually made it across the border and stayed put on the toll road. The only problem with the toll road is you have to come to a complete stop to pay the toll, which was a little exciting as Jordi hadn't quite mastered the art of the clutch. I would carefully count out our change and hand it to Jord, and he would proceed to slow the car down, but forgetting the clutch, making our poor little car hop like a bunny rabbit! Then all the money would fly all over the place. We would finally come to a complete, albeit dramatic, stop and Jordi would hand the startled toll road attendant what was left of the change that hadn't bounced out of his hands. The attendant would stare at the 10 cents we gave him and go, "Uhhhhh...." This happened a couple times. But we did eventually master the use of toll roads AND stick shift! :)
Anyways, we didn't have any itinerary or any idea of where we wanted to go, we were just going to drive up the coast. A little ways into the drive and we saw a sign with three pictures on it- one was of a little guy surfing, one was a girl under a beach umbrella, and the third was a sailboat - and there was an arrow pointing to the next exit.
"Well, those are all good things!" Jord said, "Wanna go there?"
I said, "sure!" so we pulled off and started driving down a little foresty road toward the town. We saw huge Quicksilver Pro (surfing competition) signs and another sign that said, Bienvenue a Hossegor. We were like, Oh my gosh, we're in Hossegor!! (We both had heard of this town through surfing magazines and movies) What are the odds? We didn't even try!
We got to the beach and saw a hotel called Hotel Hossegor Amigos, which I thought was a good name, so we stayed there! It was 50 euros for our own room with a double bed and our own bathroom and shower, plus a great ocean view!! And downstairs was the Amigos restaurant and a nice little living room area. It was an awesome hotel, and an awesome little town!! Unfortunately there was absolutely zero swell, so we didn't get to surf, but we hung out at the beach and went swimming and explored the town. The next day we explored up the coast a bit and checked some surf spots. We tried to rent bikes, but everything was closed, (since summer is over) so we hung out at the beach some more. There were some cool little restaurants and cafes that we frequented often, and one restuarant had a fuzbol table, so that was pretty fun :)
After two nights in Hossegor, we decided to venture on. It was pouring rain as we drove up the little coastal road (not the big toll road). It is absolutely beautiful countryside and it was really cool to drive through it all. We drove through all the little towns, stopping at one town to get tea, and stopping at another place where there were huge dunes that were a tourist attraction. We climbed up them and it was an amazing view, so that was fun. We ended up driving all the way to a little town called Lacanau, on the northern part of the Aquitane peninsula. My brother Aaron had surfed there and recommended we go there, and we didn't see anywhere else to stop, so we kept driving until we got to Lacanau. We got to the little beach town, and once again it was a really cool little town with a laid back beach vibe. We found a hotel that was right on the beach, and stayed there. We walked up the beach and around the town - mostly everything was closed, but we had dinner at a delicious little pizza place and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset. The next morning there was a little bit of swell, so we rented boards and went out. It was actually really fun, small, but we had it all to ourselves. We drove back down the coast and stopped in Biarritz, which is further south than Hossegor. Biarritz is a beautiful little city, with enless walks along the coast and the cliffs. It reminds a little bit of La Jolla in San Diego. There are tons of caves, a little harbor, and a light house you can walk to. We hunted around for a hostel and got a great one, once again! Across the street from our hostel was a tiny little pizza place (we've been eating a lot of pizza - possibly because it's the only thing we know how to order). Anyways, we went there and met another couple from Melbourne, Australia. They were super friendly and fun, and we ended up hanging out and chatting with them for a while. The next day was rainy and cozy, and we sat in a cafe and people watched for a while. We walked around some more, and in the afternoon went surfing. It was actually really fun, kind of stormy surf. That evening we met the Aussie couple again at the pizza place, and had dinner and hung out with them that night also.
The next day we had to go back to San Sebastian and return our car. We finally found a hostel there, and got some canned ravioli to eat for dinner. Doesn't sound that appetizing, but it actually was :) We went out for a little bit of tapas as a supplement to our canned ravioli, and ended up meeting these two Australian girls, also from Melbourne. They were a little younger than us, and incredibly friendly and funny! We had a lot of fun chatting - one of the girls has parents that have a beach house in Australia, so hopefully we'll get to meet up with them again!! :)
Well, that ended our time in San Sebastian. After this, Madrid!