On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Steve from Mendocino
There are seven Basque provinces, four in Spain and three in France. St. Jean Pied de Port is the center of the three French ones arrayed along the Spanish border in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques mountains. It was classified among the Most Beautiful Villages of France in 2016.
These first three photos are of the main street, rue de la Citadelle, which runs down hill and over the river Nive.
Three examples of architectural details in the old town.
The patio in front of the Hotel Pyrenees, which hosts what was then a Michelin three star restaurant, Arrambide. The restaurant was relatively inexpensive for a three star, and, while I found it less than dazzling, it was nevertheless quite good and the standout example of Basque cooking at the time.
Every Basque village and town and city has a celebration during the summer where there are folkloric demonstrations like this one as well as sporting events and food and drink.
Essentially every town has a concrete backboard such as this one where people play mostly with wooden paddles and rubber balls, but sometimes the game is handball or one involving baskets attached to the hand that are very similar to those used in jai alai.
Spain is never far away.
OzarkHillbilly
Nice, I especially like the architectural pics. Who’d thunk it, right?
The “Every Basque village and town and city has a celebration during the summer where there are folkloric demonstrations….” pic gave me a Heh, moment. I’d guess it was a little warm that day as nearly everyone is seeking the shade.
Betty
What a special corner of France to learn about.
Elizabelle
St. Jean Pied de Port is a famous starting point for walking the Camino Santiago into Spain.
Of course, your first day is pretty vertical. Up and down the Pyrenees. (So, it will not be my first day, when that day comes! Want to acclimate a bit, first.)
What a pleasure that Steve got to spend so much time in a beautiful part of the world.
O. Felix Culpa
@Elizabelle:
I started my camino in St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Can verify that (1) it is a beautiful village and (2) it provides a worthy begin to a grand walk. The views over the Pyrenees are lovely in fine weather, which I was lucky to have. I recommend NOT trying to walk from St. Jean to Roncesvalles in one go. Instead, book a stay at Orisson and continue your walk the next day. There’s a new albergue/hotel that opened somewhere in between recently, and I’ve heard it’s quite nice, but I don’t remember its name. Probably in the camino guidebooks like Brierley’s by now.
oatler
One of several Basque rock groups of the seventies, Itziar failed failed to set Spain on fire with B-Pop:
youtube.com/watch?v=PllbBrV-UAQ
Elizabelle
@O. Felix Culpa: Yes! Orisson.
Van Buren
Lovely. I would think cityscape/landscape painters would be clogging traffic in that part of the world.
Lapassionara
Lovely photos. Thank you, Steve.
Chief Oshkosh
I’m really enjoying this series, Steve. Thanks a lot. Basque Country and the Dordogne are two regions still on my bucket list.
MelissaM
I wanna go there, and now.
Also want to mention in pic 3 I love the very European sign for the bar, but below is the selection of all the ice cream delicacies you can get. I’m recalling seeing many of those signs in Germany and Austria. Thoughts can wander and then “ooh, look! I can get a treat!”
Yutsano
EUSKADI! One of the perks of starting college at Boise State University was the wonderful education I got about the Basque people. Things are somewhat better for them now in Europe but their unique language almost didn’t survive Franco and de Gaulle. I definitely need to pop over there some time soon and just tour villages, eat the food, and listen if I hear a few Euskara phrases lingering about. Thank you for this series!
Hoodie
Lovey. First acquaintance with Basque culture was shepherds in Idaho that I saw in a spring roundup at a sheep farm, but didn’t appreciate the uniqueness until a trip through Asturias and Cantabria that ended up at Bilbao. Not what many think of when you mention Spain in terms of both topography and culture.
cope
Wonderful, evocative pictures of somewhere beautiful and unique, thank you. Central Casting even provided someone in a striped shirt (pic 1) and a shirtless man playing the paddle ball game.
Layer8Problem
Absolutely enchanting. Thanks again for these.
munira
Lovely place – thank you. Makes me want to visit France again.
The Castle
I love how the slats in the shutters match the bench in the 3rd picture. Also, there is something very European about the bend in the road, looking down the hill.
The steep slope looking through the portal in the clock tower is impressive.
And the neat dentelles on the balcony in the 6th picture.
And all the geraniums everywhere. That is a memory I have of continental Europe generally.
way2blue
I visited the Pyrennes & Basque country when I was 19. With a train pass & youth hostel card. The hostel host had all the guests play a drinking game that evening. Where one was to chug port while everyone chanted what sounded like ‘ague’ to my American ears. Not my favorite game. The next morning we all got up a dawn and hiked in the mountains looking for chamois.
Special memories. Thanks for jogging them, Steve…
stinger
Beautiful, thank you.
currawong
We were there in 2018. We stayed in Sare, itself one of the 50 Most Beautiful Villages in France, and visited St Jean-Pied-de-Port a couple of times. I love the architecture, the white buildings with the red (mostly) windows and doors. The theme is the same across the area and the paint colours that house owners are allowed to use. The brick red is the most common colour but you’ll also see some green and blue.
The town, and specifically the church in the first picture, is the start of ‘El Camino de Santiago’, the pilgramage walk to Santiago de la Compostela in Spain. In fact, there are additional pigrim routes across France that lead to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port and the start of the official Camino (One goes through Carcasonne).
I’ll send in some more recent pictures of the town and area.