The Henson Journals
Wed 17 April 1929
Volume 48, Pages 24 to 25
[24]
Wednesday, April 17th, 1929.
BIARRITZ
A brilliant morning, and, happily, less wind so that the window can stand open without the door slamming with the noise of an explosion! We breakfasted in bed, & then Ella read 'Vanity Fair' for half an hour before we dressed. What a life for a Successor of the Apostles!
I wrote to the Bishop of Jarrow, and to Canon Vernon Storr.
We went to Cook's Office, and I engaged seats (& paid for them) to Loyola: also I exchanged a pound for its equivalent in Spanish money. Then, since there was no excursion for this afternoon, we walked into the town, and I got my hair cut & shampooed for the monstrous charge of 45 francs, at least three times the English price. Ella & Fearne went off to look at shops, & I bought the Daily Mail, & read Churchill's Budget Speech. Then I went on to the beach, & watched the waves breaking on the shore, a most majestic & fascinating spectacle. I rejoined my ladies at the Hotel for lunch.
[25]
Before going out after lunch I wrote to Wilson. He is too blind to read what I have written, but the attention will please him.
We spent the afternoon in walking on the beach, and clifss, which are arranged with meticulous care to secure the comfort & safety of visitors. The view of the Spanish mountains on the one side, and the limitless ocean breaking on the beach, on the other is hard to beat. The town seems to consist wholly of hotels, villas, and parasitical shops. We had tea at a Restaurant, & then returned to the Hotel.
We dine early, and the waiting is unusually rapid, so that we are out of the dining room by 8.30 p.m. Ella and Fearne play 'patience', but I am without resource, for the provision of newspapers is negligible, being mainly composed of motor–puffing journals. The guests guests staying in the Hotel have no dealings with one another as if they were Jews and Samaitans. I wrote a letter to Arthur, & then went off to my room leaving Ella and Fearne still busy with their cards. It was a mistake not to have bought books with me.