Once we were all on the road (without Guilhem who was going to a boy scouts thing), everything went smoothly. It was a little short of an hour ride to Basque Country and the entire thing was filled with gorgeous views of barely-touched huge green hills, big valleys, and charming houses. I listened to what I think was the perfect selection of music for the ride and the whole thing just put me in a great mood. I tried to study a little bit on the way for my upcoming DELF exam but I couldn't do it: it was one of those car rides where you feel so comfortably sleepy that you could just stare out the window with droopy eyes all day.
We made it into Saint-Jean-de-Luz about 11:30a and the first thing we did was walk towards the fishing port to admire the view of the water and the insanely beautiful Basque houses. I loved Biarritz and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port but Saint-Jean-de-Luz was simply dripping with charm. The word Christine used was "picturesque" and I had to agree 100%.
Some Basque homes
So SO lovely
Me! By the fishing port
Christine (her and Lionel had matching hats), Kathy (forever a tourist- Christine asked where she was at one point and Lionel said, "behind her camera"), and I by the port
We hung out here for a little bit and then we walked through a few small streets to get to a Basque "linge" shop that Christine really likes. Well, she loves and hates it. According to her, there is too much "temptation" in that store. XD She was right, though. The table sets, towels, napkins, canvas bags, etc were gorgeous! And very expensive. But I think I'll just have to make my husband bring me back here one day so he can spoil me. ;)
Just up that same street there was a stone staircase that emptied you right onto the grand promenade next to the ocean. We spent a good half hour up there taking in the view, soaking up the sun, and feeling jealous of the houses who's front yards were the ocean.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Imagine this being your front porch...
=)
Ahhhh boats <3
Courtesy of Kathy :)
Somehow or other, we lost Lionel when we left the Basque shop. Christine noticed this when we were up on the promenade and she went back to look for him (naturally, he was without his cell phone). Well, she couldn't find him and we waited up there for at least 15 minutes for him. Eventually we decided that the next best thing was to head back to the car in case he was waiting there. Thankfully, Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a very small town so there wasn't much risk of him getting seriously lost. On our way to the car, though, Lionel walked right up to us from the other direction. He said he had been in the Basque shop the whole time... we had walked right by him! haha go figure. We headed back to the car all together after that to drive a few minutes to our picnic spot.
On our way to the car: the window of a typical Basque shop including the small red, flowery Basque symbol near the top of the picture
The tulips of Saint-Jean-de-Luz's church :)
So pretty!
The drive to our lunch stop was only a few minutes but I think Lionel and Christine wanted the car closer so we wouldn't have to carry our food so far. Once there, we unpacked and walked up to this new end of the promenade (the far right side of where we were earlier). It was stunning. And there was a large stone barrier running out into the middle of the water, at which Lionel declared, "I think we should eat lunch in the middle of the ocean today." An excellent suggestion!
We decided to walk down towards the end of this stone barrier and eat lunch on the rocks :)
Next it was lunch time: couscous salad (with tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, the works), deli meats (ham, bacon, chorizo, etc), fresh white bread, coffee, and one Ferrero Rocher chocolate each. This is livin' right here...
Lunch time!
<3
Coffee, chocolate, ocean. Cheers to a great life!
When we were done with lunch, we packed everything back up and brought it all back to the car. After that, the sun started to come out so we gladly dumped our jackets and walked the rest of the right half of the promenade up onto a gorgeous hill overlooking the ocean.
What beautiful water
That's where we're headed! Isn't it cute?
Gosh, I am becoming such the photographer! ;)
=D
=D
Lovely silver sea
We reached that hill and there were multiple different walking paths to choose from. We took the one that went all the way up to the top so we could see the water on the other side: the open ocean instead of the bay. It was spectacular! If you ever feel like the coast isn't blue enough wherever you are in the world, it's because France stole all of the blueness.
My my my...
Happy birds!
We enjoyed the view for a while and then slowly walked along some other paths. There was one that took us over by that tiny white house, there were others that went more through the park area of the hill, but it was all beautiful. Over the course of the next hour and a half our so, we saw a ton of ocean and a lot of sun. But strangely, in such a beautiful place we also saw a lot of reminders of some of this country's war-time history. There were retired German bunkers planted all over this hill; thankfully, with nature trying to re-claim them. It was very sobering- I know that I don't have the capacity to imagine what went on in those cold, stone structures or to comprehend the reasons why they are even here....
One of many of the German bunkers
And of course, more glorious sea!
It looks like a great spot for running full speed ahead with your arms thrown out wide
Also on our walk, we came across this plant that Lionel is certain is what the Smurfs eat XD
Eventually, 3p rolled around and the beautiful church in the center of town opened up for the evening. We walked ourselves back that way to admire the beauty inside and to also take a little moment to reflect...
Eglise Saint-Jean-Baptiste (Church of Saint-Jean the Baptist)
The inside.... wow.
The stunning pulpit
The huge organ
I didn't want to use flash so the picture is a little blurry, but that's the altar. It was very impressive in person
Pretty window with my favorite color: purple :)
Back outside- everything looks better under the sunlight! (and with funny looking Dr. Seuss trees planted all around)
Outside, there were more tempting shops and we ended up going in a few. I bought some Basque towels for my family and some friends and then I was satisfied to walk to the next shop to look at scarves. Naturally, all were ridiculously expensive. Lionel also headed over to a nearby bakery to by us all a treat for after dinner: Basque cherry cake! =D
After shopping, we walked back to the car to head home.
A group of teenagers performing a Basque dance in the center of town
Coffee time!
<3
Last view of the lovely coast for the day
There was a guy on the promenade walking his ferret -_-
France sure knows how to decorate its public spaces
The car ride home was the same relaxing, sleepiness. When we got back to the house, I boiled some hot water for anyone who wanted a quick coffee or tea. We settled ourselves back in and soon enough, it was dinner time. I love dinner time! We started off with another fantastic carrot, cauliflower, ginger, and cream soup and then it was on to the main course, which Christine had prepared in advance: olive bread! This ended up being a small loaf of almost cake-like yellow bread that was baked with green olives and small chunks of ham inside. It was very simple and very good, and went great with the salad. For dessert, the Basque cake! OMG soooooo goooooooo!!!
What a great day :)
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