The Express.
London, England, 1868-09-18 00:00:00

pence, and Tor ita extra Lalf-franc the timid or
mexj:erieaced can secure the services of a baigneur
to attend thou in the water. These men, who are
all fine, tall, well-made follows, dressed in red or
blue flannel, are principally employed in bathing
ladies and children, and teaching them to swim.
Their kindness and tenderness to delicate little
children who dread the water—the way in which
they coax them in, and change into a pleasure what
bad been looked forward to as a terror, is plea-
emit to witness, and an agreeable oontraat to the
somewhat rough usage which some of us remember
to have received from that bets noire of all juveniles
at English watering places—the much dreaded
bathing women. The bathers at Biarritz remain every
long time in the water, and generally bathe twice
a day, both morning and afttirnoon. At 10.30 all
the world breakfasts, and then passes its time
lounging at cafts, or strolling ore... the sands and
rocks till about 4 oe 6, when M'erybody bathes
again. Dinner is at 6, after which the gay throng
adjourn. to the casino, or walks up and down the
pupal street, which is as.throngeff every even-
ing as the boulevards of Paris.
I made an excursion by the railway this morn-
ing to the neigh during watering place of St. Joan
de Luz, about half an hour off, and the last town
in France. It is in every reaped a great contrast
to Biarritz. It is as dull and ancient as Biarritz
is lively and modern. It is a remarkably quaint
old town; some of the houses are interesting sped- '
mens of mediaeval architecture. The church has
great historical interest, as in it the Grand
Monarque Louis XIV. was married to the Infanta
of Spam in 1660. Three tiers of oak galleries ex-
tend one above the other, all round the church.
These were evidently, erected for the spectators of
the ceremony, and have not since been removed.
The door, too, blocked up by the town authori-
ties, in honour of the event, still remains so. The
church is handsome, and rich in its decorations ; 1
the reredos is remarkably fine.
The bathing establishment at St. Jean de Luz 1
is some distance from the town, and the bathers
are conveyed thither in omnibuses for a very
small mum: The bathing must in some respect.
be superior to that at Biarritz, as St. Jean de
Luz stand. in the centre of a beautiful bay, and
the baths are in the most sheltered corner of it.
There is not nearly so much swell as at Biarritz.
The mountain, here form a striking feature in
the landscape, and there must be beautiful walks
and drives in the neighbourhood. The hotels are
good and very cheap. lam told that several
English families reside here—enough at all events,
with the Amid visitors, to keep up an English
church. Mt. Jean de Luz must be a terribly dull
place, and in point of scenery is very inferior to
many of oar English watering places. Its cheap-
ness, combined perhaps with a mild climate in
winter and spring, could alone, I should imagine,
induce our countrymen to settle in it.
By far the most interesting excursion from
Biarritz, and one which can easily be aocomplished
in a day by the railway, is to St. Sebastian, in
Spain. Leaving Biarritz soon after 10, I arrived
there about 12. At Iran, the frontier town, we
had to change carriages, as, though the same rail-
way gauge exists throughout Europe, the
Spaniards, to show their love of being peculiar,
and, as they think, superior to all other nations,
have invented a gauge of their own, so that it is
impossible to travel through in the same carriage
from Para) to Madrid. The Spanish gauge is 30
centimetres wider than the other European lines.
The donaniers and gendarmes look at all
strangers with some degree of suspicion. They
ask for passports, but on declaring we are English,
and only going to St. Sebastian for the day, we
are at once allowed to peas into the Spanish train.
The carriages are very similar to those on the
French lines. From Irun to St. Sebastian the
line runs now along the sea coast, now by the
batiks of a river, and the scenery is very striking,
especially near the station of Passages, shortly
after which St. Sebastian is reached. The station
is a miserable shed. Here a ricketty omnibus is
waiting to take passengers into the town. Pre-
ferring to walk, I crossed a bridge over a river
which commanded a fine view of the Atlantic,
which rolls in here as grandly as it does at Biarritz.
The town is situat• on a small promontory
between two bays which terminates in the
lofty rock, Mount Orgullo, on which the castle or
citadel is built. It was burnt down in one of the
sieges which it underwent in the Peninsular
war. It is now consequently quite a modern
town, with streets built at right anglec,
but of thoroughly Spanish appearance. The bay
on the other side of the town is a magnificent one ;
a fine promenade extends along its shore, and the
bathing here is excellent. The sexes do not bathe
together, as at Biarritz ; indeed a policeman is
stationed near the ladies' bathing-place to prevent
gentlemen from approaching it. The lathing-
boxes are disgustingly dirty, and all the arrange-
ments form a striking and disagreeable contrast to
those at Biarritz. But the situation of St. Sebas-
tian, surrounded by lofty mountains, with its two
beautiful bays, its citadel, well-built streets, and
charming Alameda, a public promenade, make it
a very superior place to the popular French
watenn -place. It is a fashionable resort with
S • , and would be also with other nations,
i were not in Spain' where the food is bad and
ritails
the hotels wretchedly dirty. I had a miserable
dinner at the best of them. It is a very pleasant
walk up to the top of the citadel. The path winds
round and round the steep sides of the Mount
Orgullo, commanding most beautiful views over
the Atlantic, and along the whole line of
rocky coast in both the French and Spanish direc-
tions. One is allowed to enter unchallenged the
fortress at the top, and roam about there at
will, the Spanish soldiers not interfering in
the laid. The prospect here is really magnificent.
On the one side is the vast Atlantic with its dark
blue waves extending far as the eye can reach ;
on the other, the picturesque town immediately
below us ; the Spanish Pyrenees rising in every
varied form and colour behind it forming the back-
ground.
The Emperor arrived here this morning at 2 a.m.,
much to the disappointment of the inhabitants,
who had made every preparation to give hint a
grand reception.