Today started well. I had a great coffee and breakfast made by my brother. After that I did the washing – I actually washed all the dirty laundry I had (well, it is the washing machine that did the job…) so I was left with a clean underwear and my jogging pants. My brother gave me a pair of socks and a t-shirt and off we went to do some sightseeing. He actually took a day off for that so I was really looking forward to it.
He first took me to Arcachon for a walk on the beach and in the city where we also had a nice coffee in the comfortable weather.
After that he took me to the Dune du Pyla.
To be honest I wasn’t even aware of that place before he told me. It is the biggest sand dune on the continent. What a sight. He parked the car and we walked around before actually climbing up to the top. It is quite an exercise. Not really the stairs that take you up there but the remaining distance to the top as you have to walk in the deep sand which makes it rather hard. Of course we took our shoes off… The view from there is also magnificent. There were quite some people on the top. Most of them tourists but also a couple of locals who just sat in the sand to read a book.
After running down in the sand – which was a big fun – we went to explore the city centre of Bordeaux. I bought a t-shirt and a couple of gifts for my kids and we sat down for a coffee after an exhausting walk. And there again I was faced with a strange situation. If you leave your cigarette pack on the table people walking by will stop and ask you for a cigarette. If you want to avoid it you just put it in your pocket…
This evening dinner was again prepared and served by my little brother and it was delicious. After that the usual chat with the family followed by long discussions with my brother – in the company of a couple of beers (and his cats).