The Basque Country
The beauty of the seven provinces of the Basque Country (four in Spain and three in France) lies in its sheer variety: charming green hills and valleys extend inland towards the Pyrenees, and a glorious coastline famous for its surfing beaches faces out to the broad Atlantic.
The typical white-washed Basque house (etche) with its red or green shutters gives the countryside a special homeliness, and provides an attractive unity of appearance. Each village enjoys the same harmony with the timber and stone of the landscape, the churches with their wooden galleries and their churchyards displaying ancient symbols of Basque culture and language, perhaps the oldest in Europe, and certainly the most mysterious.
Each town has its unique quality: Bayonne with its half-timbered houses along the banks of the river Nive, famous for its corrida and annual fêtes. Biarritz, the jewel of the coast with its glittering imperial past, always a focus for the rich and glamorous. St Jean de Luz, intimate and charming with its busy fishing port at hand. And heading towards the mountains, St Jean Pied de Port is the gateway to Spain for the pilgrim setting out on the long road to Santiago de Compostela. Here the path wends up and over the misty peaks towards Roncesvalles, the first stop for the pilgrim in Spain.
On the Spanish side, too, the Basque Country takes us down to Pamplona, world famous for its sanfermines and the noisy heyday of Ernest Hemingway. On the coast, Bilbao awaits with its new Guggenheim Museum, an architectural marvel in the heart of this rapidly regenerating city.
On the Spanish side, too, the Basque Country takes us down to Pamplona, world famous for its sanfermines and the noisy heyday of Ernest Hemingway. On the coast, Bilbao awaits with its new Guggenheim Museum, an architectural marvel in the heart of this rapidly regenerating city.
The Basques are a strong and independent people, with a love of music and dance in their street celebrations. In their sports they are passionate, and almost every village has its frontón or paved court for the fast-moving ball game of jai alai. Basque games are a colourful and unique event, as well, with trials of strength involving log-splitting and hurling, and tug-of-war.
So we invite you to the mountain pastures, to eat with the shepherds in their mountain cabins, the cayolars, and make cheese the old way by hand. You can take part in the annual pigeon shoot, follow the cattle roads of the spring and autumn transhumance,wander the coast paths where Atlantic breakers meet the cliffs.
You can celebrate the famous fêtes of Espelette, where red peppers are gathered and strung up to dry outside every home. You can dine in cider houses at tables laden with the very best that Basque cuisine has to offer in its season, from spring lamb to autumn’s salmis de palombe, and winter’s axoa, a thoroughly warming veal stew.
So we invite you to the mountain pastures, to eat with the shepherds in their mountain cabins, the cayolars, and make cheese the old way by hand. You can take part in the annual pigeon shoot, follow the cattle roads of the spring and autumn transhumance,wander the coast paths where Atlantic breakers meet the cliffs.
You can celebrate the famous fêtes of Espelette, where red peppers are gathered and strung up to dry outside every home. You can dine in cider houses at tables laden with the very best that Basque cuisine has to offer in its season, from spring lamb to autumn’s salmis de palombe, and winter’s axoa, a thoroughly warming veal stew.
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