The Basque Areas of France and Spain

27 September (Saturday):

after breakfast at the hotel and a few words with the receptionist, we started on our way to downtown Bordeaux.  The instructions were simple but following them was not.  We missed a turn then tried to return to get on the right road.  Almost impossible as the roads were one way or had big barriers to prevent the left turn we needed to make.  We turned in a side road and went back the way we had just come with several cars coming toward us as we went the wrong way!  It was the only way we could get where we needed to be.  After that we managed to get to the old town and park without difficulty.  We strolled around the old town for a couple of hours then had to drive out of town to the Ring Road Motorway.  Somehow we managed it without cifficulty.  Then we drove south on the Motorway to Bayonne, near the Spanish border.  Hans had spoken to the owner of the house we are renting and told her we would be there by 4 pm.  We were later than planned on leaving Bordeaux so travelled as fast as possible on a very busy Motorway.  We arrived at the house at 3:50 so we made up the time very well.  We have the top floor of a typical country house.  It has two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and a room set up as a dinning room with a few lounge type chairs and a small TV set so it doubles as a living room.  There is also an eating table and chairs in the kitchen.  We decided we would eat there so the dinning room table is now my computer desk.  (But no internet connection.)  The grocery store in St. Jean de Luz, the nearest town, was open until 8 pm so we went there and bought food to feed ourselves breakfast, lunch and a couple of dinners, one of which we enjoyed this evening.

28 September (Sunday):

We awoke to a beautiful sunny sky, a perfect day to start our investigation of the Basque country.  We started off heading down the coast for a few kilometers, saw the ocean and people on the beach!  We thought it was still too chilly for that.  We headed inland and went to and through several small towns.  They seem to run into each other.  You no sooner pass a sign that you have left one town when you see a sign that you are entering the next.  They are very alike, being all Basque.  The houses are similar to Swiss chalets in many ways.  We sent to Ascain, Sare, Ainhoa and St Pee-a-Nivelle (there is an accent over the first e in Pee so it is pronounce Pay).  The names are strange because, of course, they are Basque.  Most of the road signs have the names in both French and Basque.  The names usually don't look like the same place at all so if the name is only in Basque we have no idea where the road goes. The country is all gently rolling hills with mountains in the background.  The roads follow the gently rolling hills - they curve constantly so that passing is impossible.  We returned to our house for lunch (2 pm), then enjoyed sitting in the sun for the rest of the afternoon.  Feeding ourselves and relaxing are very welcome at this stage.

29 September (Monday):

We went to Saint Jean de Luz, just a short drive, to see the town, get our hair cut and have lunch in a nice restaurant.  We did get to see the town but all the hair salons are closed on Monday.  We returned to the house for lunch thinking we would go somewhere else in the afternoon but ended up just enjoying the sunshine, then back to the Carrefour Grocery store for more supplies and another nice dinner at home.

30 September (Tuesday):

We managed to get up and ready to leave by 9 am.  We drive down back roads that climbed to 1,000 metre passes, curving continuously as they went.  We crossed the France / Spain border many times, half the time not realizing we had done so.  The border is as convoluted as the German / Switzerland border near the Wirth's only there they do have check stations as Switzerland is not part of the European Union.  Our main goal was to reach Roncesvalles, a place in Spain where the French Pilgrims heading for Santiago de Compostela gathered.  They had to climb over the 1,000 metre high pass and used this Abby to recover.  The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria, the Chapel of Santiago (St. James), the chapel of the Holy Spirit or 'Charlemagne's Silo' and all the other parts open to the public were fascinating.  We had to take a guided tour to see most of the interesting things and Hans had to translate for me as the guide only spoke Spanish and French.  The place was worth the tortuous drive there and back.  We returned by a different route that took us to St. Jean Pied de Port, an interesting old town an hours drive from Roncesvalles.  We had a restaurant chosen for lunch but our guided tour of the Abbey made us too late - they had closed the kitchen.  We had lunch but not a great one, then toured the town which was very picturesque.  another hour's tortuous drive returned us home.

1 October (Wednesday):

Today was Hair Cutting day.  We chose a business on Monday (when they were all closed) and returned today, arriving about 9:30.  The owner and staff were delighted to see us and took us right away.  The store owner did my hair while one of her staff did Hans.  The owner didn't speak much English but was delighted to get the chance to practice as she is going to New York for a visit in a couple of weeks.  Both of us are happy with the results or the hair cuts.

We then continued our exploration of St. Jean de Luz on foot.  We walked to a park that overlooks the ocean and took a photo of the rock formation exposed by the erosion of the water and winds.  It is in the Photo Gallery as the last of the French Basque pictures.  The whole Corniche Basque coast is like this, we discovered later in the afternoon when we drove along the coast to the Spanish / French border.  We wanted to visit the Spanish town of Hodarribia.  We must have driven around the area for half an hour trying to find the road that would take us there.  There are three towns that seem to be one town as they have very little break between them  The road signs are mostly in Basque and, as I said before, the Basque names for places usually have no relationship at all to the Spanish or French names.  We eventually found ourselves where we wanted to be and what is more we found the Information Centre open and got a decent map of the town.  We have a hotel booked in Hondarribia for when we return from Santiago de Compostela and I said we woudl never find the hotel if we didn't get a decent map.  Now we are set.

2 October (Thursday):

Today was the day we visited some Spanish Basque towns.  We planned a trip that took us to 7 interesting towns.  We awoke to find it raining so we lazed around until things looked a bit brighter, about 11 o'clock.  Off we went in the drizzle.  We stick mostly to back roads as we get lost less often if we avoid the larger towns.  The towns we wanted to visit are all on back roads, most of them following small rivers thus being nothing but curves.  The towns are all very old so the streets are barely wide enough for one car, never mind two!  the first town we wanted to visit we saw the church as we drove past on the main road so we turned right to go around and back to it.  Of course we found ourselves going in many directions except back but finally made it, then found there was no where to park the car.  Every possible stopping spot was already used so we had another look at the church from the car and drove on to town number 2.  Basically the same thing happened there.  Town three, Extalar, had the same sort of church as the first two but this time we found a place to park and got a few pictures that show the difference from the style of the French Basque churches and houses.  We started to wonder where we would find lunch as the towns were all very small.  Leaving this town we saw a hotel with a restaurant, the answer to our problem.  After a nice lunch we decided to drop the next town from our tour as it was several kilometers down a very twisted road and back.  We went to Igantzi and Lesaka, and again found nowhere to park and take pictures - and not much to take pictures of.  The final town, Bera, we again managed to park and got some photos of the older houses.  This town is not too far off a main road and has developed into a town of four-story apartments, all of which follow the old style but don't look as nice as the original houses.

3 October (Friday):

It is our last day in this house and we are using the day to do laundry and connect to the internet (in the owner's house).  I used our landlady's computer so was not able to upload my blog for the week.  Maybe in the next day or so I'll get the chance.  The landlady did our wash for us then gave us the wet clothes to hang on the line.  We had just finished and returned to the house when the clouds moved in and I heard thunder!  We rushed out and brought the shirts and pants that were on hangers inside, out of the HAIL!  The rain and hail stopped fairly soon and the sun keeps coming out so things are drying.  I don't understand why but people in Europe do not have dryers.  the one commercial place we used in Bruges had washers and dryers but we have not seen a commercial laundry since.  Tomorrow it is on to Spain.