Wineries and more beaches!!!

So a couple of days ago we stayed on the most beautiful vineyard near Bordeaux as part of our France Passion deal. When we arrived we walked to the front door and were greeted by the owners mother who was very nice and told us where to park the van, right in the vineyard overlooking acres of grape vines with a little village and river in the distance, it was stunning! After parking we went back into the house for a tour and tasting. The owner (who was about mid thirties) showed us around the wine production area and gave us an explanation in very broken english. He then invited us into the kitchen for what we thought was going to be a quick taste but we were greeted by his mother providing some nibbles as well. We met the owners son, who has a wine named after him, and who will take over the operation of the farm when his father retires. We then sat down at their kitchen table and had a couple of glasses of wine while the owner joined us and we fumbled our way through conversation about where we are from and what we're doing in Europe. It was an amazing experience to be able to share a glass of wine with the owner on more than a purely customer/owner experience but more of an invitation into their home and what seemed like a real experience (if you know what we mean).

The next day we drove down to Biarritz which is a real surf town. The beaches although crowded with thousands of tourists, are more like our beaches than anything else we've seen on our trip.... They actually have real waves! This town is known as one of the surfing capitals of Europe and because of this, is packed with tourists chasing some decent waves. Most of the beaches however have waves dumping straight onto sand banks about 5 metres from the shore line. We saw several ambulances in one day picking up people that had been smashed into the sand like rag dolls. Jamie managed to pick up a lovely ring at one of the local jewellers which she's in love with and will give her something to remember the town by. At the moment there's a "Roxy Jam" surf carnival happening in the town with Music, Art and Surfing contests. Last night we went to a party that was held in a carpark overlooking the Atlantic which was great. Roxy had set up quite an amazing stage for a DJ and had bars surrounding the whole area, very cool!
Early this morning before breaky Andrew went for a swim in the surf and noticed that the council must use a tractor every evening to smooth the sand out before the crowds the next day arrive... imagine doing that in Australia? They'd be going for months!

Today we're off to San Sebastian in Spain as recommended by Lani. Tonight we'll be eating the local version of Tapas with cloudy white wine, which we've heard about via Lonley Planet. Can't wait!

A&J