Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Today, after a nice buffet breakfast in the Parador restaurant, with passports in hand, we headed to the bus. Rather than taking the elevator with the full tour group, our group of four walked down a ramp and stairs to the street below.
King John peruses his Castle
The bus departed at 9 am. Paula, introduced another guide, Charles, a young man (surfer dude) who narrated as we rolled up the coast, across the border into France without being searched, and onward north for about an hour to Bayonne, the captial of the Basque region in France. After disembarking, using the “whispers” to communicate, Charles led us along the Adour River front up to its confluence with the Nive River.
—— Bayonne ——
Charles then guided us away from the river, through a trendy section of Old Town with shops and restaurants, on Rue Pont-Neuf. On this uphill walk, we passed a prominent Darantz chocolate store where Jane, John, and Nancy looped back to later and purchased some of their offerings.
At the hill top, we arrived at the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Mary whose construction was completed in the 17th century except for two spires that were not finished until the 19th century. The cathedral is on the Camino de Santiago and one feature on its exterior was of a pilgrim with a walking staff and water gourd. The interior had a walkway for pilgrams to encircle the church without disrupting worshippers and was covered with beautiful stained glass windows. We also had the opportunity to visit the cathedral’s cloisters.
—— Old Town Bayonne and Cathedral ——
After viewing the cloisters, Charles continued leading us around Old Town where, among many other things, we saw the old town wall (Porte d’Espagne), buildings with old distinctive architecture, and an old Roman watch tower. After crossing a bridge, Charles pointed out that the buildings were in poorer condition on this side of the river. Because the town was built on filled-in swamp land, many buildings appeared to be swaying and some had resorted to metal bracing to prevent collapsing.
—— Old Town Bayonne ——
We ate lunch at TTiPiA Cider House. Our tour group had a private table upstairs. I ate a salad, a codfish omelet, and chocolate mousse for dessert. To obtain our cider, we went downstairs to a large community barrel and filled our glasses from a long cider stream emited from the tap which was operated by an accomplist.
—— Lunch at TTiPiA Cidery ——
After lunch, we walked back to the bus and listened to Charles’ narration (and/or napped) while we rode for about 20 mintues to the chic seaside town of Biarritz. Our first stop was at Saint-Martin Point to view the Biarritz lighthouse, a 154-foot tall white tower built in the 1930s. We walked along the point and had views overlooking Biarritz and, in the distance, could see a large red utility ship used to keep the channel bottom cleared.
—— Saint-Martin Point ——
We then rode the bus to central Biarritz and were let off with a short walk to the beautiful sandy Miramar Beach area. Formerly, Biarritz was an industrial whaling town, but today it is a trendy tourist destination. Charles, who is a surfer, related to us how American film makers brought over surfboards leading to Biarritz becoming one of Europe’s first and most popular surfing destination. We walked around enjoying the views including the sandy beach, old and new city buildings, and the sea walls of the old Fisherman’s Port. After our sightseeing, we reboarded the bus and rode back to Hondarribia.
—— Miramar Beach, Biarritz ——
Dinner tonight was a treat; we had been invited to dine at a local gastronomic club (called a txoka in Basque). A little before 7 pm, our tour group assembled at the Parador entrance and together walked the short distance to the club entrance which was located down a side alley. Members of these clubs can reserve kitchen and dining space and then come to cook, eat, and socialize with their invited party. We met four local members of this club: Txaro, Askue, Ketty and Mariana. Mariana was a young (17-year-old) college student that had studied in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She sat at our table and we quizzed her about Basque life. For dinner we had ham and cheese croquettes and white asparagus for an appetizer, hake in a parsley wine sauce for the entree, and a tasty rice pudding for dessert along with Txakolina wine. After our wonderful dining experience, we slowly walked back up the hill to our Parador enjoying the light of a full moon. Back in our room, as usual here, we quickly headed to bed following a full and satisfying day of discoveries.
—— Dinner at the Local Gastronomic Club ——
