What is your best memory of the Basque region of France?
Mar 19th, 2008, 09:55 AM
#2
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I am being only half facetious when I tell you that some of my best memories have been of those moments when I was eating the Gateau Basque. Seriously, though, you are in for a treat. I've only made two fairly short visits so am no expert, but the countryside around towns like Sare and Ainhoa is beautiful. We also loved St. Jean Pied de Port and St. Jean de Luz. Bayonne also deserves a visit. I know this is very general and I hope you will recive more detailed responses. I would love to return and rent a place there for a week or two.
Mar 19th, 2008, 11:07 AM
#3
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.........walking a (short) portion
of the Camino.
........the little villages w/red
peppers hanging all over the house
fronts.
........churchyards w/the very unique gravemarkers.
........the beautiful hillsides.
........St. Jean de Luz.
........seafood.
of the Camino.
........the little villages w/red
peppers hanging all over the house
fronts.
........churchyards w/the very unique gravemarkers.
........the beautiful hillsides.
........St. Jean de Luz.
........seafood.
Mar 19th, 2008, 11:15 AM
#4
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Make sure to read the relevant sections in the Maribel's Guides to the area; Maribel is a wonder and knows the area very well; I can not adequately convey how much she, through her comments here, and her web guides have helped me on visits to Spain and the PB.
www.maribelsguides.com
www.maribelsguides.com
Mar 19th, 2008, 02:08 PM
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This is not from memory as we are still, or presently, living it.
We're currently gorging, in our hotel room, on a Gateau Basque that was purchased from Barbier Millox in Saint Jean Pied de Port. This is so friggin good and I've had the faux versions from all over the US that doesn't come anywhere close to this.
We also chanced upon the Route du Fromage, the Pays Basque version, while driving from St Jean Pied-de-Port to Bayonne. We stopped at one of the farms with the degustation sign and purchased a quarter of a wheel of a terrific sheep's milk cheese Ossau-Iraty at about $8 Euro which we know very well could cost well over $25 at our favorite NYC cheese place. I actually saw the sheeps in the meadows whose milk produced this wonderful cheese.
Saint Jean Pied de Port is a nice small town with a nice farmers market on Mondays.
Also had a good tasting of various Irolegouy local wines that the tasting bar in the town laid out for us. As soon as I metioned local wines, he had his hired help lay out 8 glasses per person, plates of Navarre ham and chorizo, sliced local cheeses and baguette. It cost us Euro 16.40 (for 2 persons). All in all, a great lunch during the stoer-closed siesta time, very generous wine tastings, and good wine knowledge by the bar keep/owner.
I'll second the Maribel's guides - it's a got a lot of useful information about the area.
We're currently gorging, in our hotel room, on a Gateau Basque that was purchased from Barbier Millox in Saint Jean Pied de Port. This is so friggin good and I've had the faux versions from all over the US that doesn't come anywhere close to this.
We also chanced upon the Route du Fromage, the Pays Basque version, while driving from St Jean Pied-de-Port to Bayonne. We stopped at one of the farms with the degustation sign and purchased a quarter of a wheel of a terrific sheep's milk cheese Ossau-Iraty at about $8 Euro which we know very well could cost well over $25 at our favorite NYC cheese place. I actually saw the sheeps in the meadows whose milk produced this wonderful cheese.
Saint Jean Pied de Port is a nice small town with a nice farmers market on Mondays.
Also had a good tasting of various Irolegouy local wines that the tasting bar in the town laid out for us. As soon as I metioned local wines, he had his hired help lay out 8 glasses per person, plates of Navarre ham and chorizo, sliced local cheeses and baguette. It cost us Euro 16.40 (for 2 persons). All in all, a great lunch during the stoer-closed siesta time, very generous wine tastings, and good wine knowledge by the bar keep/owner.
I'll second the Maribel's guides - it's a got a lot of useful information about the area.
Mar 20th, 2008, 06:10 AM
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louanne, my husband and I will be in the Basque France region for two weeks the end of May. I hope you receive suggestions that we can incorporate into our trip 
I found some suggested driving curcuits on a website that you might find helpful. The site also lists the particular interest in many of the towns suggested. It includes the Basque countryside, coastline, the Bearn pyrenees and Bearn countryside
I hope this might give you some ideas http://tinyurl.com/yns3yn
It certainly is a region with many possibilities.
Have fun with your planning, Deborah
I found some suggested driving curcuits on a website that you might find helpful. The site also lists the particular interest in many of the towns suggested. It includes the Basque countryside, coastline, the Bearn pyrenees and Bearn countryside
I hope this might give you some ideas http://tinyurl.com/yns3yn
It certainly is a region with many possibilities.
Have fun with your planning, Deborah
Mar 20th, 2008, 06:34 AM
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Mar 22nd, 2008, 10:32 AM
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louanne,
One of my best memories, food wise, is of our two visits to the wonderful Gateau Basque Museum in Sare, sitting there on wooden benches, listening to the chef, Bicente Marichular, explain (in French), his secrets to making a perfect gateau basque, and sampling the yummy dough, then the final product, during his delightfully amusing hour and a half presentation (of which we understood maybe one fourth!).
It was really great fun. Afterwards we talked to the chef in English (and discovered that he was a school mate of chef Gerard Hirigoyen of San Francisco's Bocadillos) We even took home special cake pans to try to replicate his magic recipe.
Another wonderful moment was arriving in Sare on the day of the pottoka horse festival. These very sweet and shy pottoka horses have been in danger of extinction, but you can visit them now at their sanctuary on the Route du Fromage in Bidarray.
Another favorite moment has been attending an evening choral concert, sung in Basque, in the lovely village church of St. Etienne de Baigorry, which has a superb Remy Malher organ.
And of course, a trip up to the sacred mountain of La Rhune on the charmig wooden wagon cogwheel train for spectacular views of Navarra and the Basque coast.
It's truly a spectacular corner of Southwest France which the most picture postcard pretty villages imaginable (Sare, Aihoa, La Bastide Clairence, Esplette-the enchanting red pepper town, and so many more).
bill_boy,
So glad you made it to St. Jean Pied de Port and Irouleguy. Hope you continue to have a wonderful journey in the Basque lands.
One of my best memories, food wise, is of our two visits to the wonderful Gateau Basque Museum in Sare, sitting there on wooden benches, listening to the chef, Bicente Marichular, explain (in French), his secrets to making a perfect gateau basque, and sampling the yummy dough, then the final product, during his delightfully amusing hour and a half presentation (of which we understood maybe one fourth!).
It was really great fun. Afterwards we talked to the chef in English (and discovered that he was a school mate of chef Gerard Hirigoyen of San Francisco's Bocadillos) We even took home special cake pans to try to replicate his magic recipe.
Another wonderful moment was arriving in Sare on the day of the pottoka horse festival. These very sweet and shy pottoka horses have been in danger of extinction, but you can visit them now at their sanctuary on the Route du Fromage in Bidarray.
Another favorite moment has been attending an evening choral concert, sung in Basque, in the lovely village church of St. Etienne de Baigorry, which has a superb Remy Malher organ.
And of course, a trip up to the sacred mountain of La Rhune on the charmig wooden wagon cogwheel train for spectacular views of Navarra and the Basque coast.
It's truly a spectacular corner of Southwest France which the most picture postcard pretty villages imaginable (Sare, Aihoa, La Bastide Clairence, Esplette-the enchanting red pepper town, and so many more).
bill_boy,
So glad you made it to St. Jean Pied de Port and Irouleguy. Hope you continue to have a wonderful journey in the Basque lands.
Mar 22nd, 2008, 06:23 PM
#12
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Thanks, Maribel - for this post, and for all the wonderful info in your Basque Guide. May I ask if you are in the tourism business, or merely a very savvy traveler? Just curious. ( You are so often quoted on this board!) You were also very helpful in my preps for my Spain trips. LouAnne
Mar 23rd, 2008, 09:59 AM
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Hi louanne,
Don't know about the savvy part, but my friends accuse me of being an indefatigable traveler-have had the travel bug almost since birth.
I retired from a language teaching career 3 years ago and yes, am now employed in the travel business. Am now in the Basque section of the Rioja D.O., an Easter Sunday in the snow, doing some serious winery research! (a busman's holiday)
Another thing not to miss is the Basque brute strength sports competitions (tree trunk chopping, stone lifting, even power grass cutting!) that are held in each village in the summer, and the pelota vasca as well, held outdoors at the village fronton (whose stone wall is painted pink or salmon in the Pays Basque) or indoors in the village trinquet.
The tourist office will supply you with a day-to-day, month-by-month guide to all these summer events. There is a competition, a fair, a market or a choral performance (sometimes one of each) going on every day.
If you're in St. Jean de Luz (which is far more pleasant crowd wise in June than July-Aug), don't miss an evening concert in the stunning Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste where Louis XIV and Maria Teresa of Spain were marrried.
And that Monday outdoor farmers' market in St. Jean Pied de Port merits another visit. All the very best purveyors of brebis (ewe's cheeses), Les Aldudes hams, honey, black cherry preserves, gateau basque, wines, spirits, come to you-you don't have to go to every farm to visit them (although that's quite fun)-you have them together under one "canopy". Ditto to the wonderful indoor markets in St. Jean de Luz and Biarritz.
I'm just crazy in love with this beautifully idyllic corner of South West France,
Don't know about the savvy part, but my friends accuse me of being an indefatigable traveler-have had the travel bug almost since birth.
I retired from a language teaching career 3 years ago and yes, am now employed in the travel business. Am now in the Basque section of the Rioja D.O., an Easter Sunday in the snow, doing some serious winery research! (a busman's holiday)
Another thing not to miss is the Basque brute strength sports competitions (tree trunk chopping, stone lifting, even power grass cutting!) that are held in each village in the summer, and the pelota vasca as well, held outdoors at the village fronton (whose stone wall is painted pink or salmon in the Pays Basque) or indoors in the village trinquet.
The tourist office will supply you with a day-to-day, month-by-month guide to all these summer events. There is a competition, a fair, a market or a choral performance (sometimes one of each) going on every day.
If you're in St. Jean de Luz (which is far more pleasant crowd wise in June than July-Aug), don't miss an evening concert in the stunning Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste where Louis XIV and Maria Teresa of Spain were marrried.
And that Monday outdoor farmers' market in St. Jean Pied de Port merits another visit. All the very best purveyors of brebis (ewe's cheeses), Les Aldudes hams, honey, black cherry preserves, gateau basque, wines, spirits, come to you-you don't have to go to every farm to visit them (although that's quite fun)-you have them together under one "canopy". Ditto to the wonderful indoor markets in St. Jean de Luz and Biarritz.
I'm just crazy in love with this beautifully idyllic corner of South West France,
Mar 23rd, 2008, 11:01 AM
#14
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IŽm a little ashamed of, being Basque and having lived here since I was born, I can provide so little info about my country compared to Maribel and Robert (despite my love for travel and new places). Louanne, just follow their advice and youŽll have the time of your life.
Mar 24th, 2008, 09:50 AM
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Mikelg, perhaps you can tell me what the mountain roads are like: off N 117, going into towns and villages, such as Ainhoa, Sare, Bagnères de Bigorre, St Jean Pied de Port, Gavanie. Going to see the PICS must also be a challenging drive, non?
Mar 24th, 2008, 10:29 AM
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As a general rule, all roads in France are excellent. These in particular will be no problem for a standard driver. Just be aware that if you rent a car it will most probably be with gears, and some of my US friends find it a bit problematic...
I love to drive on these curvy roads (plenty of them in the Basque country).
I love to drive on these curvy roads (plenty of them in the Basque country).
Mar 24th, 2008, 01:13 PM
#18
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I, neither have no problem with curvy roads. It's the hairpin turns and the drop-dead ravines that worry me. But I think that by and by I'll be ok, judging from what I read here. Great.
Mar 24th, 2008, 02:15 PM
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louanne,
In the inland Pays Basque itself, you won't have steep ravines and hair pin curves, but instead, gentle, soft, rolling hills and roads in very good condition. The signage is equally good. Absolutely no problems whatsover, and no white knuckle driving.
In the inland Pays Basque itself, you won't have steep ravines and hair pin curves, but instead, gentle, soft, rolling hills and roads in very good condition. The signage is equally good. Absolutely no problems whatsover, and no white knuckle driving.
