Next morning (Thursday) Paul and I got a late start and headed down to San Sebastian. This is the northernmost city on the West Coast of Spain and is a 45 minute drive along the freeway from Biarritz. I had been there once before and was keen to see it again as the old historical part of town, the beach in the city proper and everything about the place is charming and inviting.
Some late lunch and we head down to Bilbao but were too late to see anything as we had agreed to pick up Boye, his family and step-brother Chris. We collect them from the airport and head back for the 1:45 drive to Biarritz. We get back to the house where we share a dinner of bits and pieces and then Paul and I take a walk around Biarritz.
I must say that Biarritz is one of the nicest towns I have seen in France. Its seaside location, Versailles style architecture, its small and intimate streets lined with quality shops make it so inviting. Boye and his family are staying at the Palais Hotel (Chris is sharing with Paul and I) which, despite being run by the city of Biarritz is one of the most stately hotels I have ever seen. I am guessing that the place may be quite bleak but in the summer it is simply fantastic. High recommendation.
Friday morning and I spend a few hours walking around the township sticking my head in various shops etc. and then buying some groceries before going back to our house which is located just 300 metres from the Casino, Beach and town proper.
An early dinner (18:30) where it was hard to find a restaurant open and off to bridge which started at 19:30 – sorry France - was scheduled to start at 19:30 but started close to 20:00 finishing at 23:15. We started very well but a few bad boards saw our score drop to 51%. That night we played against Erwin Otvosi, Marek Borewicz and Chris Lasocki – old home week really. I thought I played really well and that we deserved a better score but them’s the breaks.
As I arrive at the bridge, a friend of mine whom I had tried to have lunch with last time in Phoenix comes up to me and says “what are you doing here, you should have let me know you were coming!” Anyway we will catch up here I guess.
After bridge I hook up with Erwin and Keiko Otovosi for a late supper after which home to bed for a poor night’s sleep.
Next morning I wake late-ish and head down for a walk along the entire waterfront of Biarritz proper finishing up at the Palais Hotel where Paul, Chris, Boye and Anders and some kids are playing table tennis, soccer and golf in the beautiful gardens of the hotel. After about two hours of shooting the breeze all came back to our house for lunch and a short relax before the one session of bridge scheduled to start at 17:00.
That night I played one of the worst sessions I have played for a long time scoring 43%. My bad bids would fill this blog so moving right along. After bridge I have dinner with Erwin, Keiko, Keiko’s daughter Kaye as well as Jerry Stepinski (Erwin’s Partner) and Paul Gosney at Chez Albert a well-regarded seafood restaurant. Erwin orders two huge seafood platter with a wonderful assortment of langoustines, prawns, oysters, sea snails – which I must say I quite liked and other bits and pieces. Too hungry for a main I went straight to a dessert which was a reasonably good choc fondant.
The next morning I have lunch lined up with Perla Sultan, a lovely Jewish woman from Venezuela – well now Miami where her daughters live. She sees me at the tournament and her whole face lights up as though I was her long lost friend which is kind of lovely. We sat by the pool at the Palais Hotel and told each other about our lives, bridge and in her case everything else. I was not relishing the thought of this lunch but it turned out quite wonderful.
Off to bridge where I played a little better scoring 53% after giving Alfredo Versace and Madame Maria-Theresa Lavazza’s son two top boards. Bridge finished at 19:00 and Erwin took us to a restaurant called L’Atelier which is designated “expected” to be Michelin one star in the future. The meal was very good but not outstanding. Paul and I head to the Casino, my second since being here and after winning for the second time I left for a relatively early night.
Next morning I headed to San Sebastian (40 minutes South in Spain) to a shop I was interested in looking at only to find that they were, like about 50% of the shops in France, CLOSED ON MONDAY MORNINGS – FARKING HELL.
Anyway made the best of it then headed back to the house for lunch and here I am.
IMP Pairs – three days of one session a day starts at 17:00 and I am hoping for a better performance than the match pointed pairs – which shouldn’t be too hard.
For those interested table money is €25 ($A33) per session which isn’t too bad by European standards and the playing conditions are superb. In a double height convention area surrounded by glass overlooking the sea – quite excellent. There is another tournament in Deauville straight after this one and next time I come for the bridge I intend to perhaps play in both as my total holiday. We’ll see – not back from this one yet.
Anyway hope everybody is well
XD
No comments:
Post a Comment