Never heard of it? Well, I made it up, but I think it’s a good one…

Now that I’m in France I’m embracing the patisseries on every block, and I vow to have 2 macarons every day while I’m here. I will try different flavors from different places, and I will come home knowing where to go for the best…I will also come home a few pounds heavier, I’m sure…but it’s all in the name of research!

I can tell you that so far the Chocolate Passion Fruit from Henriet in Biarritz is in the lead. I’ve been thinking about it for the last 24 hours, it was eye-poppingly good!!

I was in Biarritz for 2 nights. After leaving Tori in Bilbao, I hopped on a bus, re-immersed myself in the world of SERIAL (I’ve now listened to 10), crossed the border into France and arrived at the beach just a couple hours later.

Biarritz is an adorable beach town that was once the vacation spot of Napoleon and Eugenie Bonaparte – they even built a Palace on the beach, which today is a beautiful hotel. As you walk down the coast, there isn’t a moment where the view isn’t dramatically beautiful.

I lucked out as far as the weather on my first day. As soon as I arrived I walked up to the lighthouse and made my way along the boardwalk from there. It was a great way to get my bearings and an introduction to the town. Unfortunately on day 2 I wasn’t as lucky, so I tried to squeeze everything I wanted to do into the first part of the day before the rain started up. Biarritz has a great food market (Les Halles) which is open every morning and closes at lunchtime. You can do your daily shopping there, or go to one of the mini restaurants within the market. As luck would have it, when I arrived there were a number of local chefs and restaurants set up serving free samples of some of their dishes. It was like a gourmet Costco – amazing!!

After the market, I just wandered up and down the little streets of town, walking into shops and boutiques (where the friendly shopowners enthusiastically greeted me, only to met by my blank stare of having no idea what was just said), checking out the local pharmacies for French beauty products (thank you, Alexis), and just enjoying the sleepiness of winter in a surf town.

I popped into another well-known local bakery for some lunch and views of the Grand Plage Beach just as the rain was starting. I had a delicious leek and vegetable quiche (with a side salad, the first actual green salad I’ve seen in weeks!), and the most expensive mint tea I’ve ever had in my life (chalk it up to a language barrier on the menu).

I sat and read for a while as the rain started to pour. (Sidenote, I recently finished Amy Poehler’s YES PLEASE, and I’m not sure if this is a normal reaction to the book but I was literally laughing out loud at moments and then tearing up in others. A little embarassing when you’re in public…has anyone else had that reaction?!? Either way, I recommend it). And then I slowly made my way back to my little apartment (thank you, Airbnb) in the quaint St. Charles neighborhood of Biarritz. I used the rainy evening as a way to plan ahead for Paris, which is right around the corner, and to get ready for another train ride…this time 2 hours north to Bordeaux, which I will tell you all about tomorrow.

Bonne nuit!