Budget Bound France

On the fine financial line between surviving and broke, us "auxiliars" were in need of a fun, frugal vacation.  Now due to the fact that I'm a travel freak, I'd been especially vigilant of discount hotel and flight options via e-mail from booking.com and vueling.es.  Signing up to receive deal opportunities from these companies is free and easy, not to mention a good reminder that traveling is one of my biggest goals while I'm here in Europe.  As it was, I stumbled upon a wonderful little 8 person apartment for 135 euros for 4 nights with kitchenette in Pays Basque (French Basque country), just north of Biarritz.

Beach at Ondres

Next step was finding formidable transportation.  As of recently, I've also discovered the flexibility and affordability that renting a car through amigoautos.es or sixt.es offers to large groups of people, the only catch being that having a manual capable driver 25 years of age or older can save you nearly 30 euros a day on your rental.  As is was, our group of nine managed to rent two cars for 115 euros per car for four days.  A mere 25 odd euros per person!

Location was the key to this vacation.  We were stationed in Ondres, a small town near Bayonne, which allowed us for cheap accommodation, while allowing for visits to Biarritz (30 minutes south), Bordeaux (2 hours north) and various other quaint beach towns along the way.  Other notable towns in the Pays Basque include the quaint St. Jean de Luz and an adventurers paradise, Hendaye (information courtesy of (lizenespana's posts).

After all was said and done, the four day trip costs each of us a miniscule 54 euros a person for transportation, accommodation, and gas for four days.  Most of us keeping under 100 euros for the long, beautiful weekend.

Church in Biarritz

Chateaux in Biarritz

A nice lunch by the beach

Pure bliss

Kir - Basque Cider and Cherry Liqueur "mmm"

Creature hunting in Biarritz

The view from the ferris wheel of Bordeaux, France.

Our throng strolling along the river in Bordeaux.

Basic Spanish
Soy (nationality) (pronounced like soy in soy sauce) - I am (Nationality)

Advanced Spanish
Estás ganando la ostía - you're pissing me off

Basic Basque
Ekiatz (A-kites) - Storm - A typical basque name.

British English
I can't be bothered - I don't want to do it, I don't feel like it