Easier to get Anal Jelly than Fresh Milk

Lesaka plaza, living quarters left and right

Gorgeous rabbit

Lesaka

Etxalar and its discoidal headstones

Zugarramurdi

The Grand Cavern of Zugarramurdi

Rear of oratory on Aita Donostia

"Monumento a Aita Donostia" by Oteiza

More pics here

Easier to get Anal Jelly than Fresh Milk
A Traiteur at last and the Witches of Zugarramurdi


What is France coming to? The butcher up the street fecks off on holidays for most of June. What is the holidaymaker supposed to do for a traiteur? And, worse, while I’m at it. This is quite a country. There are even 24 hour automated convenience booths where you can get all kinds of things, including Anal Jelly, but it is almost impossible to find a bottle of fresh milk!

Anyhow, I’ve solved the traiteur problem. The traiteur is a French institution and often overlooked by Irish on holiday. Hendaye is divided into two parts, we are in the beach area and it was in the older area that we found a top class traiteur this morning while visiting the weekly market. Here we bought enough Lapin Fermier (Rabbit) for dinner.

Happy that we had the rabbit and its sauce in the bag, we set off for Spain and the Basque hills and mountains again around lunchtime. Saw Menu del Dia for less than a tenner as we drove through Ergoien on our way to the national park area of Aiako Harriak.

We reached the border with Nafarro province (Navarre) at the 439m Aritxulegi tunnel, went past the big San Anton Reservoir. There are dolmens in the area of Agina and also a walk to the hilltop site of Aita-Donostia where stands a rugged work by Basque sculptor Oteiza.

Wound our way down to the pretty town of Lesaka. It has some historical places but I was very impressed by the modern Plaza Eltzetako. Then on to Etxalar, a beautifully maintained village with an old church with quite a collection of discoidal headstones in the churchyard.

Still one more call, as we headed up and then down on a very windy mountain road towards France, and that was the town of Zugarramurdi, a major centre of witch trials during the inquisition. The witches were supposed to have met in nearby caves, now the small town’s major attraction, even if it does little to let you know where they are. You have to walk the best part of a mile from the car park.

As a result, we just made it before they closed; the courteous girl at the reception looked at her watch but went on to give us every help. There are walks and a viewing point but the main attraction is the biggest of the caves, quite a massive one, very impressive indeed.

Then back to Hendaye and to that tasty rabbit, not to mention a gorgeous Gateau Basque with cherries (not the usual custard), also a nice bottle of red from Navarre, a Crianza, blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon. Think I deserved it!

Coastal Mouse and the Slope-way to Heaven.

The Monument

The Church dominates the town

The Mouse

The lighthouse at the end of the "mouse"

Getaria. Town in middle of two beaches.

Coastal Mouse and the Slope-way to Heaven.
Tuesday 5th June 2012
More pics here


Temperatures were in the mid to high twenties as we arrived in the Spanish coastal town of Getaria, between Bilbao and San Sebastian. El Raton de San Anton (the mouse of St Anthony) caught our eye immediately, a mouse shaped one time island, now linked to the mainland.

The other main attractions here are the Iglesia de San Salvador (whose floor slops upwards to the main alter and is built over a tunnel), the monument to the Basque seaman Juan Sebastian Elcano) who serve with Magellan) and even a museum to fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga.

It is also the centre of production for the Txakoli wine but we didn’t see any sign of that. Didn’t particularly look for it either as we are finding the wine without any problem and enjoying the prickly bubbly juice.

We walked out to the lighthouse on the Raton, enjoying splendid views over the little town, its harbour and beaches and also out to sea and indeed right up to the large golden beach of Zarautz, the next town. Quite an uphill walk in the heat but well worth.

Then back to the church, a 14th century contraction and that strange sensation of walking uphill towards the altar. Then up the narrow street to the main thoroughfare and the very large monument to the sailor where, on one side, a fronton had been incorporated and some young lads were playing pelota, with rackets this time.

Didn’t bother with the fashion museum and headed along the coast to Zarautz, before re-joining the tooled motorway towards France. But still one stop to make and why not? Petrol here was just €1.29 per litre, about forty cents cheaper than across the border. EU harmonisation still has some way to go!

Hope Local Basque Priest Wins the Lotto

Village of Errezil

Lunch starter

Medieval carvings in danger

Lunch coffee

village of Errezil

San Ignacio de Loiola

Hope Local Basque Priest Wins the Lotto
Tuesday 5th June 2012
More pics here


When we arrived in the Basque heartland village of Errezil, in the Gipuzkoa, we little thought we’d be there for over two hours. A chance meeting with the local priest was responsible.

Earlier, we had crossed from the French border town Hendaye into Spain, heading for Tolosa, intending to loop around a few of the villages in the hilly interior before making our way to some of the coastal villages between Bilbao and San Sebastian. It turned out to be a great day weather-wise and a surprising one otherwise.

Our first “target” was the Bidania Pass (510m) and then the village of Bidegoian, the highest in the Gipuzkoa. No problems there and soon we were heading for the next pass, the Iturburu (550m) and, just below it, the Balcon de Gipuzkoa, high above the green valley in which Errezil village is situated. The views up here were just magnificent, really beautiful: sheep and cows and goats grazing and a scattering of farmhouses over the slopes of the valley with the village the main focal point.

After one or two photo stops, we headed down to see the village and its church of St Martin de Tours in particular with its large wood carving of the Saint on horseback. As we entered the darkened church (from the early middle ages), we were greeted, from behind, by the priest.

It turned out that he had worked in Liverpool, with Irish helpers, in the sixties and indeed had once been to Ireland, calling to Limerick on a voyage from Liverpool to Bilbao. He had excellent English and proudly showed us his church and its many carvings, some as old as five hundred years. But the works were deteriorating and, with a declining population, there was no money to repair them. He was hoping the lottery would help. Hope he wins.

He recommended a little restaurant under the shadow of the church (by the way, we forgot about asking to see St Martin on his horse). The bar/restaurant was more or less anonymous – you wouldn’t have thought it was even a commercial property. But it was and we enjoyed a three course meal, with wine, water and coffee, for twenty euro for the two of us.

No it wasn't haute cuisine but it was very good indeed. Our Spanish is even more limited then our French and the lady of the house was obviously unused to outside visitors. But we managed and she came up trumps.

Starters were a terrific vegetable stew with a boiled egg on top and Macaroni with Chorizo. The mains were meat balls with fries and a Bavette steak, also with fries. Dessert was Crème Caramel. Forgot to say, the wine was a full bottle as was the water. Add in two cups of excellent coffee, all for twenty euro. Incredible.

Now, under the gaze of the Izarraitz Massif, we headed for the town of Azpeitia and, from there followed a tree lined avenue to the 17th century basilica of San Ignacio de Loiola, the birthplace of the founder of the Jesuit movement. The church is huge but we had to be content with a view of the outside as it was closed for lunch hour and would not be open until 3.30pm, a bit too late for us.

And so we left and headed for the seaside and for the beautiful village of Getaria in particular.

Wine with a head, The Twins, a Dubliner’s Chateau

Hendaye marina

Hanging hams at La Pinta

Stuffed peppers. Lovely!

The wine with a head!

The Green Lizard

The Chateau

The Twins

Wine with a head, The Twins, a Dubliner’s Chateau


More pics here

Spent much of Monday in the local Hendaye area. There are some magnificent coastal walks here, some of them going on and on and on. We confined ourselves to one, largely in the grounds of Chateau Abbadia.

Facing the Atlantic, it is now owned by the French Academy of Sciences and was originally built between 1864 and 1879 by Eugene Viollet le Duc, for Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie d'Arrast, born in Dublin (1810) to an Irish mother and Basque father.

You may visit the chateau itself but with the weather being so fine, we stayed outdoors and got some terrific views: back over Hendaye and its beach and across to Hondarribia on the Spanish side. There are two rocks, small seastacks, associated with Hendaye. You may see them from the beach and they appear in postcards and tourist literature and we got a close-up of The Twins and also terrific views up the coast towards and beyond St Jean Du Luz.

It wasn't just the views. There are many wildflowers to be seen and we also spotted a magnificent green lizard, about 12 inches long. On the way back, we spent some time on the beach.

Monday evening sees quite a few of the local restaurants closed so our choices were limited but we had no hesitation about going back to Serge Blanco’s La Pinta. The menu is formidable here and you can pick and choose from also over the place, though we confined ourselves to the €18.00 menu, which gave us quite a good deal of choice over the three courses.

Also tried a couple of glasses of the Txakoli, the local wine. It is a slightly sparkling, very dry white wine with high acidity and is poured from shoulder height into sturdy drinking glasses (as they do here also with cider), producing something of a “head” and, of course, more bubbles, in the glass. Goes well with the food here for sure.

Dinner in the Santa Maria

Dinner in the Santa Maria
Sunday June 3rd


Having come back to Hendaye from our visit to the Spanish Basque coast, we set about finding a restaurant for dinner. Some had concentrated on lunch and were closed. The beachside places, under a blazing sun, were pretty full and so we headed to the port and back to the Santa Maria.

We picked the €17.50 menu. Each of the three courses had about six choices and it proved very good value indeed. Starters were a Mozzarella and Tomato with Jambon for CL and Grilled Sardines for me. Very happy with each.

Then on to the mains where we both agreed on Tuna served in the Basque fashion. The Basque sauce is based mainly on tomato and peppers and lent a terrific moisture to the tuna and the potatoes served it were top-notch. Excellent.

Dessert also came up trumps. I enjoyed my local Brebis cheese served with Black Berry jam and a small mustard dressed salad while CL tucked into an old favourite: Gateaux Basque. Good food and good value. Oh forgot to mention the beer. From the French brewery Goldberg, aromatic, balanced with bitterness and scent and served with a dish of salted peanuts while we awaited our first course.

At 1057 metres: Token steps on the Pilgrim Path

La Posada

Auberge for pilgrims

Top of the pass Ibaneta

Bridge to citadel at St Jean

Roundabout St Jean

At 1057 metres: Token steps on the Pilgrim Path

Saturday June 2nd, More pics here
Saturday saw us head to the Pyrenees again, this time the “target” was Roncesvalles on the Spanish side, for hundreds of years a place of rest and refuge for the pilgrims on their way along the Camino to Santiago de Compostella, some 790 kilometres away from where we had a welcome lunch.

It wasn't he sunniest of days but temperatures would reach 31 as we made our way through the Basque countryside to another ancient town, St Jean Pied de Port, another Camino stop, this on the French side. Here we had a stroll around the old town, which is more or less contained within the citadel, yet another construction by the busy Vauban fellow!

The old bridge here is a focal point where tourists with our cameras gather, including today a bunch of young Americans, with perfect diction but oh so loud. Didn’t stop when they entered the ancient church with one boasting he was getting loads of photos for his Facebook page, so busy flashing in the shadows that he couldn’t be bothered to take off his baseball cap.

Had a good walk up the old town, saw the offers of accommodation for the current day pilgrims, of which we didn't see any here, and also strolled on the more or less intact ramparts.


Soon, we were on the road again. A much better road than I thought, this N135. Oh yes, there were bends galore and lots of S hook ones but generally they were of the gentler variety as indeed was the increase in altitude though the ears did pop as we climbed.

No sign of any border as, somewhere, we crossed into Spain, probably when we saw the first of the Ventas, big shopping centres near the French border. We passed them on the way up and then reached the summit at Ibaneta (1057m).

This pass and Roncesvalles, which is just down the road, is famous in history and legend for the defeat of Charlemagne and the death of Roland in 778, during the battle of Roncevaux Pass.

The pilgrim path runs alongside the road at this point but still there was a remarkable lack of pilgrims but we did see many racing cyclists, some training , others trying to recover their youth! Perhaps the pilgrims all converge in the evening as then, and only then, can you get their menu. We settled for a lovely sandwich and a refreshing beer La Posada before returning to France.

Made a stop at the last of Ventas: three supermarkets and two large two story buildings selling big name goods. Prices didn’t look that inviting, except in the drinks section. For example, a 1.5 litre bottle of Absolut Vodka cost €18.91.

Diverted to Cambo on the way home to call to a traiteur and pick up some Poulet Basque and Tabbouleh for dinner. And very nice it was also, accompanied by a bottle (strange shape) of 2009 Penascal Blanc (Verdejo) from Castilla y Leon.

Zumaia. Gorgeous village between San Sebastian and Bilbao.

Zumaia

Zumaia

Zumaia, its San Pedro church and marina, also beach

Villa in Debe

Sculpture in Debe

Debe beach

View up the coast towards Zumaia from Debe

Zumaia. Gorgeous village between San Sebastian and Bilbao.
Sunday June 3rd
More pics here


Headed for the Spanish Basque coast today to see some of the villages between San Sebastian and Bilbao. In minutes after leaving the house, we were crossing the Bidasoa and into Spain and soon heading south along a smashing, mainly three lane, highway.

Zumaia took our breath away, not just because the Sat-Nav Suzy took us up the town's narrowest hill, but because the little town was so well laid out and had made so much of its location on the Atlantic. Terrific walkways out to the ocean, break-waters converted to enable walks, an ancient church, children playing in the streets, their parents and grandparents walking. Oh, by the way, the top of that unwanted narrow hill gave us terrific views over the town, views that a tourist might never find.

Our first visit of the day had been the resort town of Deba. Some terrific views as we wound our way down the narrow roads to the sandy beach. But the sun had yet to break through here – it had been a very dull morning – and some high boxy buildings did nothing for the place. It didn’t have anywhere near the appeal of Zumaia. Must try some more of these villages soon.

French-Spanish summit. The Basque Mountain. More Food.

Up with the eagles on the Basque Mountain

More pics here

La Rhune http://www.rhune.com is regarded as the Basque Mountain. The 903 metre peak is the last of high Pyrenees on the west and is easy to reach as it is served by a long standing cogwheel railway that takes you right to the summit that is shared by France and Spain and complete with shops and restaurants.

We headed for it today and were surprised to find the substantial car park full of cars and buses. No luck either in the overflow. But we spotted a second overflow and drove back to that. By then though, our 11.30 train, the last of the morning, was full. Luckily, they had added another and soon we were on our way.

Within minutes, we are rising up and the views of the surrounding land are opening up. On the slopes, semi-wild ponies known as Pittocks graze and up above eagles soar. It takes about 35 minutes to reach the top. There is a 360 degree view of the coast from San Sebastian to Biarritz and the mountains. We had clear views of Hendaye and St Jean du Lutz. And, of course, there are magnificent views across the Pyrenees and into Spain.

Phew. It was hot up there, possibly in the low 30s. After a quick view from the top, we went into a restaurant and enjoyed a terrific mixed salad and a smashing Spanish Omelette plus two glasses of wines for a total of 1.8 euro each. Not bad.
Refreshed, we went for a bit of a walk on one of many paths by the summit and got even better views of the mountain range, of the ponies and the eagles. There was a bit of a log-jam after the lunch break and instead of departing at 2.30 we had to wait until 3.05. Then back to the apartment and a dip in the pool.

Dinner-time!

Couldn’t quite get away from La Rhune even at dinner time as it overlooked La Cabane du Pecheur www.lacabanedupecheur-hendaye.fr on the bay. The view also included a few biggish planes coming and going on a water bounded airport that serves Hondarribia and San Sebastian.

The restaurant was excellent, terrific food and friendly service. The seven euro starter was Moules Mariniere (7.00), top quality mussels, much better than the previous effort at Santa Maria, top quality and the classic sauce left nothing to be desired. 

And neither did the wine, Andere D’Ansa, a blend of Gros Manseng (mostly) and Petit Manseng from the local Irouleguy vineyards.

My mains was line caught hake with asparagus from the Landes and a cream of petit pois (18.00). Loved it: hake was perfect, the thick asparagus was to die for (best I’ve ever eaten) and the pea cream delicious.

CL picked the sorbet (5.50) for her dessert – it had been a long hot day! Three balls of sorbet – raspberry, lemon and peach – and crumbed biscuits went down a treat. I was also very happy with mine: Coffee Gourmand (4.80) which included an espresso, a mini (generous) Gateau Basque (Cherry, rather than custard) and a macaron. Good end to another good day in Hendaye.