After the last two crazy months, packed full of trips, adventures, celebrations and time with friends, we are finally back home in Biarritz with no plans and nothing but the summer ahead of us. From March to May we went to Portugal, I flew home to California for my best friend Ashley’s bridal shower, then we went to Greece for a week to celebrate our 30th birthdays, then my other best friend Jade and her husband Josh came to visit for a week, we ran the Paris Marathon, and then I flew back to California for 5 weeks for Ashley’s bachelorette and wedding. It was all so much fun, but man are we exhausted and ready to spend some good quality time at home in beautiful Biarritz. (Posts about all those adventures coming soon!)

Since we’ve been back we have been relaxing, recovering from jet lag, and taking time to enjoy all the great things Biarritz has to offer : The gorgeous beaches, the streets lined with cute shops, eating at our favorite restaurants, surfing, watching the surf, running my favorite routes (time to get back at it after taking a month off after my marathon), watching the sunsets from our balcony, catching up with friends, eating croissants, tapas, drinking French rosé, and people watching. We love traveling and exploring as many cities and countries as we can, but sometimes it’s nice to sit back and appreciate the fact that we really do live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

And of course garage sales (vide greniers), flea markets (puces)  and antique markets (brocantes), my favorite weekend activity! Last Saturday, my first weekend home in over a month, I went to the flea market in Anglet (Les Puces de Quintaou) with my good friend Erin. We left the boys at home and did a girls-only trip, big coffees in hand (we’re such Americans!), and had the best day finding so many amazing treasures. On the drive there I was telling Erin that I had been wanting to find a vintage enamel mint kettle and a demijohn (those giant vintage glass bottles that used to be used for things like olive oil and wine). It was my lucky day because I ended up finding BOTH, and got both for less that 30€, along with many other amazing things like the cutest vintage leather shoes (sorry they didn’t fit you Erin! ), another basket for my growing collection, a set of embroidered napkins, the cutest brass bunny figurine, and some fresh succulents for summer. Erin scored some amazing dresses, a vintage French vase and some gold framed pictures for her gold wall she is starting (it’s amazing). I’m sure Brent and Jay were thrilled about all the stuff we brought home, but it was so much fun and I can’t wait for the next market!

The very next day was a huge vide grenier (garage sale) up at the stadium in Biarritz, within walking distance of both our house. I made Brent trek there with me in the rain (what a good sport), and I scored a few more goodies : a vintage straw hat, some gold-framed floral pictures and an small oil painting of Montmartre, all for just 15€. Treasure hunting in France is so much fun!

We’ve been going for lots of walks trying to burn off all the eating and drinking we’ve done on our last few trips and I’ve been trying to get back to a regular schedule at my gym. The classes are so intimidating because they are all taught in 100% French, but I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’m feeling very sore from Body Pump and Abdos & Fessiers (Abs & Glutes). It’s not DB’s bootcamp class, but there’s an ocean view, so it will do. Bonne journée!

After a long, cold, dark winter that seems to last most of the year (ugh), it’s FINALLY starting to feel like summer in Biarritz, and I’m SO HAPPY about it. As a sun-worshiping Californian, this last winter (our first winter in France!) wasn’t easy. There was one point in February where the sun didn’t make an appearance for three weeks straight. It took everything I had to not curl up into a ball and crawl into a big dark hole of depression. After returning to California for a month for my best friend Ashley’s wedding in April, I came back mid-May to chilly days and even more rain (Nooooo!). Apparently there were a few warm days while I was away, but sadly I missed them. I feel like this week has been the official start to what will be an amazing few warm months ahead. It was the breakthrough week, where the sun came out at least once every single day, sometimes even for the whole day (rare here). I had my first official beach day and actually laid out at La Grande Plage in a bikini, surrounded by t*tt*es (Brent is so jealous).

I had my french lesson outside this week in my teacher Marie’s beautiful back yard and got tan lines! We finally put our bistro table back out on our balcony to enjoy our morning coffee in the sun. I bought a fresh batch of succulents to re-plant all the ones that died in the cold of winter. Peonies are in season! We haven’t turned on our heater in a few weeks and can even prop the doors open when it’s not too windy. Every evening the locals are out, taking a drink with friends, watching the waves. Summer is coming to Biarritz and I couldn’t be happier about it!

Back in early May 2014, Brent had another long holiday weekend so we decided to take our first trip (since living in France) down to Spain. Living in Biarritz, we are only about 20 minutes from the Spanish border, so it makes cruising to another country for a weekend adventure pretty easy (cool, huh?). Not to mention Brent is fluent in Spanish, so while we were still struggling to learn French, it was like a sigh of relief when we would cross the border into Spain, because it became so much easier to communicate and understand what was going on. It really felt like being on vacation, especially for me, who was finally off the hook for having to do all the talking.

We had a four-day weekend, so we planned a roadtrip to a few different places, starting with a night and two days in Pamplona. Pamplona is the Spanish Basque city that is so famous for the San Fermin Festival, better know to most as the running of the bulls. It’s only about an hour and a half drive from Biarritz, and the scenic road getting there is gorgeous : you drive through Spain’s Basque country which is full of lush, green hills and mountains (thanks to all the rain we get here). It was not at all what I expected driving into Spain, it’s gorgeous!! And because of all the mountains, you drive through tons of really long tunnels on the freeway. It’s only a few miles away but feels so different from driving the roads up here in France.

I was in love with Pamplona as soon as we got there – the architecture was like nothing I had seen before and everything was so colorful! The buildings and houses were like candy, I couldn’t get enough! We spent a lot of time exploring the old center of town : you can follow the path the bulls run through the center, so even though the festival wasn’t happening when we were there, we tried to imagine what it must be like to see so many people and bulls running through the tiny, colorful streets. I stumbled on lots of great little shops while I was there, too. It was the first time I really did any shopping since making the move, and I was extremely excited to discover that Zara, among other brands, is on average 10 euro cheaper (per item) than in France. Score!

We were lucky to be there on a Thursday night, which turns out is a great night for ‘happy hour’ – a tapa and a glass of Rioja for just TWO euros, which you could get at almost any bar in the old center of town. Spanish Tapas are worth making a trip down to Spain alone! We enjoyed tasting so many different types of tapas, drinking Rioja, and just cruised around town and people watched. It was so fun to see the city come alive with locals who just chill in the streets for hours, snacking on tapas, talking with friends, a glass of wine in their hands… we could definitely get used to this lifestyle (and pretty much have, by now).

Our last morning in Pamplona, before we headed off to our next Spanish adventure in the Rioja wine region, I hit up a few more shops, explored a few new streets, and we enjoyed a breakfast of famous Spanish churros and thick hot chocolate, a la taza, to dip the churros in. I love this chocolate so much because it isn’t too sweet, it’s bolder and earthier, and when combined with a bite of sugar-coated churro, it’s the perfect combination. Luckily we did lots of walking exploring the city, to burn off our nutritious breakfast.

I loved Pamplona and it was the perfect city to explore for our first weekend adventure in Spain!

When we moved to Biarritz last March, there was so much to do to get settled when we arrived (open bank accounts, get cell phones, buy new cars, look for an apartment, Brent get settled in at his new office), that even though we (I, specifically) wanted to run off and explore France, we had to take care of business before leaving town. Five weeks into our life here, which felt like an eternity at the time (without our ‘stuff’, without our ‘friends, without our normal routines), Brent got a Monday off, and had a three day Easter weekend. We finally felt settled enough in Biarritz that we were ready to leave town for a long weekend adventure, so we picked Saint-Émilion, a little medieval wine country town in Bordeaux, about a two and a half hour drive from Biarritz.

I’m not sure if it’s because Saint-Émilion was the first place we visited, or because of it’s history, or the springtime, or maybe all the wine, but for me it was one of the most magical places we’ve visited. Our first view of this little medieval town was looking down on it from above, to all the small cobblestone streets winding through medieval stone buildings, the small hillside town surrounded by a valley of French Châteaus and vineyards, I couldn’t wait to explore!

The first thing we did was sign up for a tour via the tourist office in the center of town, which took us into the old monolithic church that was carved into a giant rock in the side of a hill. After our history lesson, the next stop of course was some tasting rooms where we were able to try the famous Saint-Émilion wine, and purchased a couple nice bottles to bring home with us.

We stayed in the cutest hotel, Auberge de la Commanderie, right int he center of town, where we could open our shutters and look down a small cobble stone street and see the steeple of the church. In the morning we were woken up by the church bells ringing. It was the perfect location to walk everywhere in this picturesque little town.

On Easter Sunday we rented bikes from the tourist office in the center of town. They were pretty relaxed about it all, and just handed us the bikes and a map with some routes mapped out through the local vineyards and countryside to follow, and said ‘have fun!’. It was SO EPIC!

The roads were very quiet, probably because it was Easter, so we had them all to ourselves. We set off on our bikes and rode through rolling vineyards, past Châteaus, through tiny wine villages…  it seriously felt like it was straight out of a movie. We rode around exploring the roads of  Saint-Émilion wine country for most of the day, until it started to rain on us around 4pm. This bike ride definitely makes the list of top five favorite things we’ve done since moving to France.

The town itself got quite busy with tourists during the day, so the two mornings we were there I would wake up really early and walk around and explore the tiny streets while everything was quiet. I took a million pictures of textured walls, rock work, flower pots in picture-perfect windows, it was hard just choosing a few photos to share in this post!

I love Saint-Émilion and wish everyone I know could experience this magical little town. The cobblestone streets, the textures of the old buildings, bike rides through the vineyards, the wine! One of my favorite places I’ve been, and definitely a great pick for our first French adventure as ‘locals’.

Bonjour friends, family and any other interested readers we might have! Since this is my first official post I thought I should start off by saying welcome to our blog and thank you for stopping by! I also need to send a huge thank you to our friend James who helped develop and bring this blog to life. This wouldn’t have been possible without his help and skills – thanks so much James!

Like Brent mentioned in his previous post, I had planned to have this up before we even moved to France, so our friends and family could track our progress getting settled in our new life in a new country, but we have been busier than anticipated, as moving around the globe isn’t an easy task, so this blog has just been an idea for the past 10 (already!) months. But now that it’s up, moving forward, we will do our best to record our traveling adventures, daily life happenings around Biarritz, and any other journey we experience.

To celebrate living in Biarritz for 10 months, I thought I would start off by listing my 10 favorite things about living in Biarritz – the best way I can think to sum up all the positive things about the last year we’ve spent here. Moving has had it’s ups and downs, happy moments paired with dark, sad, homesick days, but overall Biarritz is such a magical place and I personally feel overall really happy here. Here is my list of 10 reasons why:

10. Shopping At Les Halles
Les Halles de Biarritz is the covered market in the center of town, open only in the mornings from 7am – 1pm (but open everyday, even Sunday!). This is where you can go to stock up on local fresh produce, meats, amazing cheeses and many kinds of local delicacies. It can be really overwhelming, espeically in the summer when it’s crowed with tourists, but has been a great way for me to practice my French and try the most delicious local foods. I make my grocery list (in French) and then go to the market and order from the vendors (in French!), whether it’s two persimmons, ten slices of saucisson, one by one I’m learning the names and quantities of all my favorite foods, en français. It’s definitely one of my favorite things to do around town! (I’m planning on doing a more in-depth post on this market experience later, so stay tuned!)

9. Running Routes Around Town
Those of you that know me know how much I love (hate, but love) to run. When we first moved here and I had to cut my DB bootcamp class cold turkey out of my life (for sure the hardest thing about the move for me – loosing my workout routines and workout buddies and workout body), so I channeled that energy into running. Running is amazing because it can take you so many places, and really far. I explored and explored some more by running all around town. The locals love to walk, so there is the most incredible path that hugs the coast of Biarritz, from the Côte des Basques to the lighthouse on the hill on the opposite end of town, and all the way to Anglet and then Bayonne, if you want to run that far. The path goes through tunnels, winding along the coastline, with a gorgeous ocean view, and if there is ever a moment that it’s not raining, I’m outside trying to get a run in on my favorite running route. There has yet to be a boring run around this gorgeous town!

8. Watching The Waves Splash Against The Rocks
The coastline in Basque Country reminds me a lot of the Central California coastline near Big Sur, with winding rocky cliffs and giant waves splashing up against them. It’s something you just have to experience in person, but something about the ocean and the way it behaves is just different here, and I could watch it forever. The waves get massive (so big that’s it’s been hard for me to surf here, ugh) and they interact with these awesome rock formations that Biarritz is famous for, and it’s mesmerizing. Nature never ceases to amaze, especially here.

7. Surf Culture & California Feel
Biarritz feels more like California than you would expect for any French city, and we are lucky to have ended up in the part of Europe that feels the most like ‘home’. The locals actually call this place the ‘French California’, and even though the sun hardly ever comes out, it’s true that it has a taste of California, and I am very thankful for that. Biarritz is a surf town so it’s filled with surfers running through town with their boards, headed to the beach (ourselves included), surf shops, cars with surfboards strapped to the top, wetsuits hanging from apartment balconies all around town, and locals wearing Quiksilver and Roxy. It’s definitely nice to have the familiarity of beach town surf culture when we sometimes feel so far from home.

6. Learning About The Basque Culture
We often get asked from people back in the states “How’s life in Paris?”. That’s a little bit like asking someone in California what it’s like living in New York. Not the same thing. Biarritz is a Basque town, in Basque Country, and one of the fun things about living here has been learning what exactly that means. The Basque have their own food, their own language, their own traditions, all flavorful and unique. It’s been fun meeting locals, exploring the local villages of Basque Country, and learning about this new culture which is a big part of the way life is lived in this little town, and that we honestly didn’t know much about before we moved here.

5. Fresh Bread : Baguettes & Croissants
Let’s be honest – even though we all want to be skinny and like to act like we don’t eat carbs, there is nothing better than eating fresh warm bread, right out of the oven, and there is plenty of that here in Biarritz. Our nickname is Baguette(nberger), so obviously eating warm, fresh baguettes from the local boulanger is one of our favorite things to do. And the croissants! When we first arrived we ate a croissant almost every morning, quickly realizing this could not be a long-term habit (in combination with the lack of bootcamps, the croissants were taking their toll rather quickly). But after experiencing a warm, fresh baguette or croissant purchased for less than one euro, fresh out of the oven, there really is nothing better. Definitely one of my favorite things about Biarritz and living in France! (And now I try to keep the fresh croissants to a once-a-week-or-less treat, only).

4. Experiencing Seasons & Epic Sunsets
Coming from sunny Southern California, we were used to pretty much only one season a year : almost always summer. Even though the cold, non-stop rain can be quite depressing here, one of the highlights has been experiencing all the different seasons. Biarritz gets really intense thunder storms, which happened almost everyday in the summer, and make for the most epic sunsets. The weather is so dramatic, hot and sunny one minute, with gnarly black clouds and sideways, knife-like raindrops attacking the next. It definitely keeps things interesting.

3. Balcony At Château Grettenberger
If I had to pick my favorite place to hangout in the whole city, it is definitely sitting at our little bistro table on our balcony at Château Grettenberger (our epic apartment), with a glass of wine in hand. Our apartment is minature, but as soon as we saw this amazing, almost 360, balcony, we were sold and had to have this place. From the balcony, that wraps all the way around our half-circle living room, with three french doors that open up to it, we can see a small view of the ocean, the Biarritz Lighthouse, down three differnt streets on each side of our building, into surrounding neighborhoods, and many epic sunsets. During the summer we spent every morning on the balcony drinking coffee, almost every evening enjoying a glass of wine during the sunset. Sitting on our balcony enjoying this epic view is definitely a constant reminder of how lucky we are to get this time to enjoy this city.

2. Proximity To Everywhere Else In Europe
A big reason why we decided to make this move was the opportunity it created to travel Europe. Right before Brent was offered his job here, we were actually seriously talking about saving up, quitting our jobs, and just traveling for a year. Somehow we were blessed to get this opportunity to have work AND get to travel every couple of weekends. Paris (PARIS!!!) is just an hour flight away, and plane tickets to places like Santorini, Greece are only $250 USD. Whaaat???!!!! We’re going for our birthdays, done and done.

1. Local Weekend Antique & Flea Markets
For sure, my number one, absolute most favorite thing here is going to all the local weekend antique and flea markets. My friends in California know I never missed going to the Long Beach Antique market every month, and here the treasures I have been finding have been AMAZING. Not only is everything here French (or ofentimes Spanish, since we are so close to the border), but everything is so cheap! Yes it’s all in Euro vs. the US dollar, but I’m used to LA prices, and since most of these fleas are in smaller towns, the prices are amazing. I often hold up an item, asking how much it costs, expecting the vedor to say fifty euro (and probably willing to pay about forty), and they end up telling me fifty cents!!! Brent is going to kick me out of the house if I come home with too many more trinkets, but I can’t help it, I’m addicted to the French Fleas!! My favorite markets are Les Puces des Quintaou in Anglet, the 4th Saturday of every month, and La Brocante d’Ahetze, the third Sunday of every month. Check out this amazing website where you can search for all sales, antique markets, garage sales and fleas happening in France.

And those are a few of my favorite things about living in Biarritz, France! I feel very lucky to be here!! Bonne journée!