All the signs were there. Perhaps we should have been aware we were encircled by an increasing number of laden camels awaiting the final straws causing their proverbial backs to break in a rather spectacular fashion. After six months on the road we apparently felt at we needed to celebrate that particular anniversary by really getting on each other’s nerves. We’d been pretty good until now. What with riding public ground transportation over large swaths of land deep in eastern Europe with nary a grumble. The pressure cooker that is married life sometimes needs its valve opened however and to help us with that particular activity was the French rail system, SNCF.

A week or so earlier, we had experienced our first major transportation challenge when leaving Tours for Biarritz. We had been forced to blow our transportation budget out of the water when buying last minute TGV tickets only to be rewarded by missed connections. Ironically, the TGV, ostensibly the fastest way to move around in France, can be incredibly slow when one; it doesn’t show up on time, and two; causes you to miss your other TGV connections. Because of the delay however, we according to the SNCF website, were entitled to a refund of 25% because how late the train was. We got no compensation for the fact that the delay caused us to forfeit another TGV connection and had to get on a later regional TER, but that’s neither here nor there. After doing the math, this refund, which of course is a not a refund but rather travel credits, we excitedly thought we’d use that to ride first class return to Saint Jean de Luz, a picturesque small coastal town a grand total of 13 minutes on the train from Biarritz. With the voucher PDF on the phone, we strode confidently up to the clerk, because the ticket kiosks cannot process vouchers; this is France after all. What ensued at the counter is all a blur. The clerk, who if she spoke a word of English hid it very well, despite our pleas to slow down proceeded to spray us with rapid-fire French that started with the voucher couldn’t be used, to only be used on another TGV to only applying to one person, despite being a refund on a ticket for two. Frustration bubbled to the surface and we exit sans tickets, neither of us particularly impressed with the other. After also, with frayed nerves, botching ticket purchase at the kiosk without using the vouchers, we were at the end of our proverbial ropes.

Luckily though the weather held and the day after when things have calmed down, we set out to Saint Jean de Luz. While much smaller than Biarritz and noticeably farther along in its shoulder season, it’s clear that this is a small but by no means unknown French Basque gem. Not that we were pursuing these kinds of establishments, but people who only dine at Michelin star restaurants would not have gone hungry while in Saint Jean de Luz. After having fortified on Plats du jour and a bottle of local Rosé, we strolled beneath the telltale oxblood red shutters on white buildings, hiked up to vistas overlooking the rugged coastline and just generally took in the scenery as the town slowly continued its winding down for winter. Saint Jean de Luz was our last stop in France before we hopped across the border to San Sebastian in Spain.