Le Pays Basque

Today we rented a car to explore a bit of Le Pays Basque -- the region that spans the border between Spain and France along the Atlantic coast.

Our first stop was Espelette, a small town known for its dried red (Piment) peppers. During the summer, the peppers are hung to dry on the walls of the houses, which provides some interesting decor.

 

We walked around a bit, which offered nice views of the city's 16th century church, an old stone bridge and the surrounding countryside.

Next we visited Ainhoa, a town whose name sounded to me more like it belongs in Hawaii. It was very beautiful and, in fact, is listed among the country's "Most Beautiful Villages" (of which there are apparently ~150).

The highlight of the day was our marathon lunch at Martin Berasategui's eponymous restaurant just outside San Sebastian (across the border in Spain). This marked my first 3-star Michelin dining experience -- which I'll touch on in a subsequent post -- and easily qualified as one of the better meals that I've had in my life..

 

After lunch we drove to San Sebastian to spend the afternoon. It was beautiful out, so we did our best to take advantage by walking all over. I particularly liked the city's 19th century cathedral, the wide pedestrian avenues and the scenic beachfront.

 

For a better view of the city we drove up to the top of Mt. Igueldo, which is on the west end of the bay. The view reminded me a little bit of Rio given the topography and the mountaintop Christ statue at the other end of the bay.

On the drive back we stopped in a few small coastal towns after crossing the border back into France. The first was St. Jean de Luz, which is known for its fishing port, sandy bay and sizable retaining wall to protect the city from the high tide.

 

The second was Guéthary. Typical of the towns in the area, it included a court for a popular sport called pelote basque (basically Jai Alai if you're familiar with it). We saw part of a match later in the day and it was pretty impressive.

While in Guéthary, we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. After growing up in California, I never get tired of watching the sun go down over the ocean. Any other way almost doesn't seem right.

The final stop was Bidart, which allowed for some nice post-sunset photos on the beach. I liked this one in particular with Emilie in the background.