Today began the journey home, travelling from Agromaniz to the Ibis Styles Hotel in Dax, France, with a stop in San Sebastiàn - around 140 miles.

San Sebastián is a delightful place. Even with overcast skies and some sunshine it had lots to see and do. There are massive beaches (not for us today - too chilly) where surfers were making the most of the breezy weather.

The town is divided by a river, crossed by charming bridges, which meets the sea creating a small waterfall effect.

The streets are a mix of modern, traffic free shopping & business areas and narrow old fashioned alleyways. We stumbled across a “Santander Work Café”, provided by the bank for its customers who are working on the move. As far as we know, they’re just beginning to open these in the UK (as well as closing local branches). We were “exotic” being overseas clients and were treated like minor royalty by the staff. A little overpriced, but that’s how bankers make their money.

The city has an aquarium, a funicular railway and there are boat trips around the bay, along with lots of other activities to appeal to holiday visitors. There are parks and gardens everywhere - a very green central area

We travelled on to Dax and the Ibis Styles hotel. Both the town and the hotel had surprises in store for us.

Dax. 

As we drove through the town, it was obvious it was more than just a pit-stop. It was a spa town with a cathedral, quaint shopping streets and had a river with a walking trail alongside it. I took a little time to explore the following morning and it was far more captivating than most of the places we’d visited in Cantabria. C’est la vie.

The Hotel.

Ibis Styles is not a brand to provoke excitement even if it’s Ibis’ top brand. The “Styles” bit was evident in the rooms. The floors had carpets that looked like rough hewn floorboards. The stools looked like tree logs and the bathroom had fake grass flooring. As expected, the room was small with inadequate space for unpacking, but did have a tiny balcony overlooking the river and (almost a first for Europe) had tea and coffee making facilities.

We were told it was to be a buffet dinner. Just what we had expected, and we didn’t expect it to be that good. We were so, so wrong.

We were given a delicious full service three course dinner at well presented tables by two very attentive staff

This must be the first time ever that an en route location has been better than some “main itinerary” destinations.