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Joanie's France, Andorra and Basque Country 2026 Vacation April 2026 So if you read my France/UK report from June 2025, you'll know that lots of things went woefully wrong. This trip kind of rivaled that, so I've come to the conclusion that France hates me. We'll get into all the screw-ups as they happened, but the short story is 5 flight changes on one trip is a little much. At least I could taste during this trip. The first of our many fuck ups came about 3 weeks before leaving when Air Canada sent a note that our flight back to Boston was now 4/13 instead of 4/14. I got on the phone with Expedia (DO NOT USE THEM) and was able to get a less convenient flight back on the 14th. Then when I was heading to the subway, I got a text from Air Canada that our flight was delayed 45 min, not a huge deal since we had enough time on our layover in Montreal. Then we had just passed thru security when another text came saying the flight is delayed another hour (supposedly weather). This was not going to work so we went to the Air Canada desk to find out what options we had. They booked us on Air France to Paris then to Toulouse landing an hour later which worked out ok and we arrived Thurs. 4/2. It was still early before check-in, so we explored the city walking by a few carousels (France LOVES their carousels), then to the pretty St. Etienne Cathedral, the hidden gem Chapelle des Carmélites with beautiful frescoes (recommended by the friendly owner of our hotel, Frederic) and Vicious Circle Records. It was time for food and so many places looked good, but their doors were open on this chilly day and we really needed to be warm. We ended up on the touristy Place du Capitole at Café Albert but it was perfect. Hotel Heliot couldn't have been more convenient to the airport bus and the main drags of Toulouse (the tiny slippery shower blew tho). I was determined to try the local liqueur Suze so we headed to Little Big Bar for happy hour, which was mostly just for beer, but she made me a white Negroni with Suze. She was friendly and that street was kind of happening and included our favorite bar, Seven, where all drinks were 7€ in general and HH was 2 for 10! The drinks were great made by the wonderful Evan who we clicked with immediately. We had seen the restaurant Chez Lilly earlier and it worked out for dinner that evening, splitting the 3 course prix fixe. They love their meat and duck a little too rare over there for my taste, but it was a fun meal.
Fri. we hit a cool outdoor flea market on the way to the Jardin des Plantes and Museum de Toulouse, which is mostly a natural history museum, not usually my thing but it was interesting. We did a long loop around town, hung out by the cool Pont Neuf bridge, grabbed a doner kebab and an afternoon drink, saw some half-timbered houses, got an iced coffee (it's just not that easy over there) then regrouped for our fancy dinner. We made a stop at Evan's other bar first, Le Loup Blanc, which was cool in a craft cocktail kind of way, but Seven was more our style. We had a reservation at Genty Magre for their famed cassoulet which Mike had never had. They didn't allow sharing so we ordered lamb too. Again, too rare but a nice meal then ended at the townie Le Bar Belfort in our neighborhood where I caught Mike singing Toto.
Sat. we zipped thru the massive Victor Hugo food market then picked up our rental car. Let's just say the car presented some problems, mostly due to us not being on top of things but it was nerve-wracking a couple times. Plus a few gas stations were out of gas in France, making things even more difficult. We drove out to Chateau Boujac winery for a tasting with 4 others (one local, 2 Aussies and one gal from Stoneham!). That nite was taking in the famous sunset by the Garonne River which is a fun scene, got a quick Japanese dinner, back to Seven and a late nite Belgian waffle.
The drive on Sun. to Andorra wasn't bad and pretty scenic. Just a side note, Andorra is a tiny country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain that no one knows/remembers exists. It's known for skiing and tax-free shopping but we felt that since we're so close, we should go. It meant renting the PITA car but we're glad we went. We started with the twisty road up to El Pas de la Casa which is cute ski town, then lunch at Grandvalira where we were so high up in the bright sun, we only needed t-shirts. It was so beautiful and a fun scene at the lodge (the next to last day they were open). Oddly, our burger came wrapped in paper of old ads including one for Holstein-Friesian Association (in Brattleboro VT) where I worked summers during college and my father was the head accountant, how weird!? Got to our Hotel Pyrenees in the late afternoon, a classic pretty hotel with nice employees. But I didn't realize that the "interior room" I booked meant the tiniest window which provided no circulation and it was too early for them to turn on the AC, sigh. At least we had a proper shower/tub and excellent breakfast spread. We enjoyed just wandering around, eating some good food (esp at L'Isard). We hit bars including one at the casino where we became friendly with Floridians Greg and Cindy, and the biker bar at Barri Antic Hostel, and the rooftop bar, walked by the cool statues and Mike spent a lot of time at the famous Caldea Spa. The prices for liquor and cigarettes really are crazy low and I took advantage of the tax free buying a new fragrance of Chanel perfume for $50 less than in Boston. Sadly, the rock bar, El Rana, was on vacation when we tried to go at the end of our two days there.
On Tues. we did the long drive to Bayonne, easy but those tolls are expensive. Had a quick stop at a nice gas station/store/restaurant and got to our Hotel Cote Basque about 3PM and made the most of our 22 hours there; hitting a place on the river for a snack and giant G&T, visiting the gorgeous Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne, trying to visit the record store Mangue Disque but vacation time foiled us again, seeing lots of half-timbered houses (almost as many as Strasbourg), eating pinxhos, hitting the market, eating the best pastry at Noisette, visiting the Basque Museum and learning that berets were ubiquitous back in the day.
We took the slightly longer/scenic/cheaper route to San Sebastian and checked into the cool One Shot Tabaklera House a little bit away from downtown and old town. It was a former tobacco factory with crazy high ceilings, nice amenities, a bathroom bigger than some rooms, but a few too many mosquitos. We were happy overall and immediately walked into town to check out the beach, stopped for a snack and beverage, then came upon Egia Records by our hotel and talked to the friendly owner. That evening we started with crazy overpriced drinks in a beautiful setting at the Hotel Maria Cristina then had a reservation for a nicer meal at Ikaitz where Mike had foie gras for his first time and we split lots of tasty food. We ended at the funky/cool Gerald's Bar for a drink but it looked good for food too.
Thurs. we stopped in the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, hit the market (everyone has a great food market over there), grabbed a bite outdoors, then walked up Mount Urgull to La Mota Castle. We tried for pintxos at one of the recommended places in old town but one place was closed, one was too crowded so we ended up at Loretxu which we really enjoyed. I tooled around town while Mike went back to the beach and dipped his legs in. We started the evening at La Gintoneria with fairly pricey, giant G&T's. You often get amazing deals on wine/beer/drinks/vermouth but sometimes the prices are just like Boston. We walked along the water while the sun was setting then found a place for pig's ears, both of our first (and last) times haha, then got the famous Basque Burnt Cheesecake for dessert at La Vina. (FYI, I made it a month later and it came out pretty darn well.) The nite ended at two local rock bars, Minuto y Medio and Basmati Rock Bar. Both were pretty dead but good to stop by.
Now it's Fri. and we do the short drive to Bilbao on a very hot day. Stayed at the Hotel Bilbao Plaza which was pretty perfect, even with their funky ass parking situation. The workers were mostly friendly, we got a welcome water and cookie, had a good-sized room overlooking the Nervion River and were just a quick walk to the Guggenheim and into old town. We grabbed a snack and drink, wandered old town, hit up Brixton records and store, walked around the San Francisco neighborhood which wasn't as funky/crappy as people make it sound, then took the funicular to the park for a view of the city. That nite we tried to hit up Nave 9 which is kind of an Oi bar but oddly they had a work function or something going on. That was a bummer. We had to grab something to eat before a show and ended up at Grosso not knowing it was all vegan pizza but it was tasty, esp the Buffalo mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. We made our way to this little theater Kafe Antzokia to see Deadletter from London. Not realizing it would cost $30 each for one band but what could you do. They were quite good, our first live music of the trip, and a quick hang after outside at More or Bilbao.
Sat. was our early visit at the Guggenheim which was cool, amazing building and some fun exhibits including by Ruth Asawa and the infinity mirror room from Kusama. I had a nice break at the gorgeous Café Iruña from 1903. Mike and I tried to stop in another old one, Bar Basque, but it was too tiny and crowded. The weather kind of sucked for walking around, I found the punky bar Beltza to waste some time then more cheesecake and a quick stop at Power Records. This was the nite to try some of the metal spots in old town so we started at Shooter (which had a poster for the Muck show) but it sure wasn't playing rock music. Got a surprisingly good burger and onion rings then stopped by Hell's Bells who were showing great old rock videos. The most entertaining place was Las Ruedas with a crazy bartender getting into the music as if he were on stage, not just making drinks. Bilbao on a Sat. nite is pretty crazy, and they were gonna keep going long after midnight when we headed back. Sun. I went out early to look for a t-shirt and wander around, got a delicious Iberico ham baguette, wandered around by the Plaza Nueva where there were singers and soccer card traders gathering. Then it was time for the Muck and the Mires matinee show at Crazy Horse. Cool little spot, kind of weird being there at 2PM on a sunny day. The band nailed it, the crowd loved it and we made a plan to meet up later. Mike and I walked back to old town and took the 311 stairs up from Unamuno Sq. Where we were rewarded with townie bar Mallona Bi and many choices of wine, none of which were over 3€. Some fields across the street, a nice view, a 2 something € glass of wine, nice. We regrouped and met all the Mucks who were staying about 4 min from our hotel. Started at Zaharra on Plaza Nueva but had to sit outside so found Bacco around the corner to hang inside for another round. Fun night.
Mon. was the long drive from Bilbao to Toulouse and you'll see below how things took a terrible turn, if you care to read. We checked into Hotel d'Orsay by the train station but that was about the only redeeming factor. Oh and the sex club 3 doors down. Not a big deal but between no shower curtain/door, lack of outlets, general worn-down look, it gets 3 stars at best. I was frazzled from dealing with all the screw-ups and had to get out. First we went back to Hotel Heliot hoping they'd have a room for our extra nite but no luck. I got on Booking.com and got a well-located and priced hotel and hoped for the best. We then hit happy hour at Madame Baudruche and went across the street to Momone and split a nice steak dinner, that wasn't crazy rare. We had to get our asses to the show at Le Ravelin so took our only public transportation ride of the trip which thankfully was timed perfectly. Montaña from Seville and Tower of One from "the quiet corner" of Connecticut were playing but we only caught a couple Montaña songs. They were cool in a moody way. Mike remembered Tower of One opening for Bleakness (from France) at the Central Sq Elks Lodge last year, it was a back and forth nite and I may have been at Sonia while they played. It was fun talking to them, they're very active in the scenes in CT and Prov. Tue., the extra day, was super nice so we started back at Place du Capitole for an outdoor breakfast, then walked by Bullitt Records up to the Japanese Garden, got another doner at L'Oasis, hit the Museum of Old Toulouse, stopped at Café des Artistes then checked into Hotel Capitole which was pretty good all around, esp the location. In the evening we grabbed a drink in our hood (by the carousel), swung by sunset again, then dinner at El Deseo Cafe which we'd seen earlier and looked inviting. Which indeed it was and the duck brochette was amazing. We were heading back and saw this cool cocktail place Fat Cat that wasn't on my list (?!) and that was a nice way to end the nite We had time for a walk around town Wed. morning so I bought some snacks at the Victor Hugo Market then headed to the airport way earlier than we should have cuz they were running on other airport rules. Even with all the fuckups, it was a cool trip but no one should have to deal with all that craziness.
So quickly for all the (other) things that went wrong with this vacation, if you care to read on. On Sat. the 11th I get an email that our scheduled return flight on the 14th (Lufthansa to Munich then Frankfurt then Boston) is canceled cuz Lufthansa had a cockpit strike. But they rebooked it while we were sleeping Sat. nite so we'd fly Air France to Lyon, then Aer Lingus to Dublin and DUB to BOS getting back at 10PM. Not ideal but it worked. On Mon. as we were just about to drop off the rental back in Toulouse, I see an email from Expedia that the Aer Lingus flights were canceled, but no word from Aer Lingus itself the way the actual airlines informed us on all the other flight changes. Now I had to get on the phone with Expedia again and see what's going on, some woman in a loud call center just says to call Aer Lingus. He tells me the flight is NOT canceled, we need Expedia to reinstate us. Between dropped calls, no one calling me back and hours on the phone, they get back a few hours later saying they can only get one ticket at this point. He says there's another possibility, but it leaves a day later on the 15th. Not ideal but we were at their mercy. Now those seats are gone and he says Sorry, your option is to fly Aer Lingus a day late, to DUB then BOS at a one way cost of $1220 for each of us! WT everloving F. What could we do, maybe something else but I'd been dealing with this for so long that it seemed like we better just get the seats while we could. Checking in at the Toulouse airport to Dublin was so delayed then slow, we basically just walked to the boarding, but didn't take off until an hour past departure. We had to zip thru quickly from one side of Dublin Airport to the other then go thru customs. Thankfully we were seated toward the front of the plane and have Global Entry, so it worked out, but it's already time to board for DUB to BOS. On a plane that was 80% empty but our dumb ass woman at the Toulouse counter assigned us seats where Mike was on one side of the plane, me on another, and next to people (I actually was next to chef Ken Orringer for a while) when she could have assigned us our own rows. Which I eventually grabbed. We got back in one piece but as I write this story, I'm in a never-ending run around with Expedia trying to get that money back. Also have a claim with my travel insurance but they of course are waiting to see if Expedia resolves this. I think you know the moral of this last story, do NOT use Expedia. There was a LOT of back and forth with Expedia who refused to reimburse the one-way fares/hotel but did pay an odd reimbursement of $249 x 2. Then another TON of back and forth with my travel insurance who called me saying things looked good and it was a matter of time before approval, then sent an email denying my claim. I of course refuted this and after another bunch of back and forth, they reversed their decision on 7/8 and my airfare and half of the hotel is getting reimbursed. Even though it was a hassle, I recommend getting yearly travel insurance if you travel a fair amount. Glad I'm done with this, won't be flying to France again.
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