Golden Hour In Guéthary
We drove just 30 minutes south from Biarritz to Guéthary, leaving one coastal town behind for another, albeit one much smaller and less frivolous. This place seemed to be the perfect representation of “the simple life.” Apart from the few bed and breakfasts amongst the green hills, I was able to spot a small grocery store that doubled as a cafe and a couple of casual seaside food stops on the drive to our campground. We found our parking spot and noticed that the sun was close to setting so we decided to walk down to the beach before dinner. The skies were grey when we arrived and I didn’t think it was going to be a very impressive sunset. I was about to be proven all wrong.
We walked down a steep paved hill, passing one of the seaside restaurants, until we were finally met with brown sand leading to a grey sea, reflecting the mood of the sky. To our left and right, verdant hills laced with clusters of pampas grass led down to boulders that encompassed the cove. We first headed to our left, exploring the water’s edge and ambling over rocks big and small. A couple of homes sat atop the hills and I imagined what it would be like to live there, to wake up to this view everyday, barely another building in sight, alone in peace at the edge of the world. A fantasy.
We walked along the water’s edge to the opposite side of the cove. While we dipped our toes into the cold clear sea, the sun inched itself towards the horizon and finally revealed itself as it dipped below the blanket of clouds. Appearing at first as a small flame, it grew and grew until it set fire to the world around us, bathing every inch of the cove in its golden light. The brown sand deepened into amber, the green hills came to life, and the rocks on shore revealed their white marbling, like lighting illuminating a dark sky.
We were completely enraptured by this little cove. We stayed until the light began to fade away and we heard our empty stomachs calling to us. On our way back to our camping spot, we checked a close by surf spot and caught sight of a small peeling wave, a welcoming view for what our next morning would look like, followed by fresh warm baguette and local jam from the little grocery store up the hill.
Guéthary was such a small part of our trip, but still, six months later, it stands out in my mind. The photo at the top of this blog post remains one of my favorites from our trip, a scene out of a fairytale, and the photo below shows the best of the colors we saw painted in the sky during the last few minutes of sunset. What a dream.
