BO (and no, it does't stand for body odour)

Clockwise from top left: the pub where we watched the game; Rebecca, Mark, me and Mel at dinner; the beach; statue of Mary and baby Jesus; sand sculptors; escargots for dinner.

Last weekend I went to France with Mel, to a French Basque town called Biarritz. Mel's new flatmate Rebecca is French and she wanted to watch the rugby game between the French team BO (I have no idea what it stands for) and The Munsters which are from Ireland or England... some part of that side of the world. Most of BO come from Biarritz so it was supposed to be especially exciting to watch the game in their home town.

Because of the game, the only hotel/hostel room we could find was a single, so Mel checked in to the hotel and I just dumped my stuff and came back with her at night and we had to share the bed. Which wasn't too bad; my dog kicks more than she does. The game started at 4 and was agonising. Agonisingly boring. Because the screen in the pub was so small, every time someone shifted I had to shift as well, to see. I don't understand rugby and I had no idea what was going on. Despite all the cheering and shouting, towards the last 20 minutes of the game I was so tired I started dozing off and had to lean on the door frame to stop myself from falling over.

BO lost, something like 27-26. Or not. I can't remember. That's how intruiging the game was. But it was fun, being in France, watching French people cheer on the rugby match. We also met up with Mark, a friend of Rebecca. He was really nice, and when I told him that usually French people were uptight and snobby (I wasn't being rude, he asked) he just laughed and said it sounded right. He took us to this fantastic restaurant which looked like a ship inside and out and I had escargots, creme brulee and pizza for dinner. SO tasty. The food was amazing the whole weekend, actually.

On Sunday, Mel and I had croissants for breakfast and went and sunbaked a bit because it was dazzlingly hot and beautiful. Then Rebecca and Mark joined us and we had lunch- magrot (sort of like smoked duck) and foie gras salad. And then we sunbaked and slept on the beach all afternoon. We were supposed to leave for Logrono at 6 pm but Rebecca heard the team was coming back, so we hung around and found them. Two of them gave interviews and the rest were at the pub where we watched the game so we went over and had a drink there as well and admired their buff bodies and muscly legs up close.

By the time we left, it was 8 and I was feeling slightly sunburnt and extremely satisfied.

Clockwise from top left: a house built into a rock face; one of the BO players giving an interview on the news; buck's night party; a BO player at the pub; fans and BO outside the casino in Biarritz.