Notes from the Road (12) - Reconnaissance Misson

After a few weeks moseying around Glasgow and the West of Scotland, William and I shot down to Pau to check out our new town and hopefully start on the house hunting trail. Pau is not a major hub so you can't fly direct but Air France go via Charles de Gaulle and there are lots of other options to various local (ish) airports like Biarritz, Lourdes and Bordeaux. This time around, William and I went BA via Heathrow. Having spent the last eight years flying long haul whenever we went anywhere, this was actually a piece of cake. Delighted that I just took William as an infant on my lap as the seat next to us was empty anyway!

In typical William travel mode, he fell asleep as we took off leaving Glasgow and slept for most of the way down to LHR. It was a quick connection, busied with sushi and toilet stops and then onto our second flight to France. Another wee 90minute-er, et voilà, nous sommes en France! 

In another typical turn of fate, when we arrived in Biarritz, it was absolutely hosing down (reminiscent of the first ever weekend I spent in New Plymouth when Iain had moved down there). This impacted our ability to follow the correct route and it took us ages to drive what should've been an hour back to Pau. William was exhausted and absolutely beside himself. Good start!

So, Pau. Not Pau as in "Kapow", but Pau as in "So". It was a holiday Monday the day after we arrived so we drove into town, parked on the Boulevard des Pyrenées and wandered the streets of our new home. It is beautiful. A typically old, medieval European town with a very old part that has narrow cobbled streets and stunning buildings. Having spent the past eight years in such a new country, the differences in the architecture were stark.

We're still very much getting to grips with the hours that the Frenchies keep. They all seem to hibernate in the afternoon! And it wasn't even that hot!

LM.