San Sebastian, Pintxos Paradise

Leaving Bayonne meant switching from French mode to Spanish mode. This also meant that Vince took over the communications with his mediocre Spanish speaking abilities. We had to say goodbye for the time being to Le Menu and some excellent French cuisine. We got our first taste of travelling by bus, as the trains do not connect from France to Spain. It took a little getting used to because often there aren’t any postings that tell you which gate your bus is at and you have to guess when you are at your final destination as there are sometimes no announcement where you have stopped.

San Sebastian (or Donostia) is still in the Basque region, but on the Spanish side of the border. It is a lively town with people out and about enjoying the bars, restaurants, shops, parks, and beaches. The first day we arrived was a little overcast, but the weather cleared and showed us why it is such a destination in the summer. There are an almost never ending string of festivals, beautiful long beaches, and great night-life, and although we were there out of season it sure beats the hordes that descend during the high season.

Our accommodations were in the newer part of town that includes the shopping and commercial district. A 5-minute walk got us right into the old town that is comprised of a grid of narrow streets lined with mostly bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops. It’s really nice because most of the streets are pedestrian, although you always have to be on the lookout for the occasional moped.

In the center of the old town is the main square Plaza de la Constitucion. On three sides it is surrounded by three stories of numbered doors with shutters.

This is the Basilica de Santa Maria del Coro. It was built in the 18^th Century over an old temple. The exterior has very ornate sculptures, including images of a ship, something very common in this seaside town. The interior has high, domed ceilings that create a very wide open space. From here, down narrow streets you have direct views of San Vicente Church, the other major church in the old part of the city, as well as the Cathedral.

We walked along the water’s edge around the hill called the Urgull at the north end of town that is topped with a fortress and a large statue of Jesus. We got some great views of the harbor, the main beach Playa Concha, and this picture westwards of Santa Clara Island and the other side of the bay.

After walking around the hill, we ended up at this stretch along the sea where a huge swell of waves was crashing high up over the walls, soaking unsuspecting pedestrians. From here you look out onto another beach famous for its surfing and where this picture was taken from.

Right on the beach is the convention center, which is a modern cube that lights up at night. There’s another mini cube behind it too.

In the middle of the city is the towering Good Shepherd Cathedral. It’s a more modern construction by European standards, built in the 1880’s. There was a wedding taking place as we walked by and tourists were still stopping in to take a look. The cathedral is so long, the wedding was hardly bothered by the onlookers at the other end.

We scaled the hill and explored the different sections of the defensive structures and fortress along the summit. This is a picture back towards the Playa Concha, the expansive, crescent shaped beach along the bay.

At the tip top is an enormous statue of Jesus, which you can see from almost anywhere in San Sebastian (or He can see you almost anywhere you are in San Sebastian).

The fortress at the top of the hill had a number of old cannons and inside was a museum with several exhibits about the town of San Sebastian, the development of the fortress, and the city itself. There was also this room that includes some of the outfits and military uniforms used over the years.

We walked along the Playa Concha to get the other side of the La Concha Bay. Above the beach are a wide boardwalk and a hillside of tall buildings overlooking the water. The sand is really nice, but the water was freezing, which is why there were very few people on the beach (and even less in the water). This view is back towards the hill with the fortress and Jesus, and the old town is below it to the right.

At the very end of the bay is this sculpture named El Peine del Viento, or The Comb in the Wind, created by Eduardo Chillida. They are three huge steel sculptures anchored into the granite rocks that supposedly comb the furious winds in the La Concha Bay. They had to build special tracks to transport them to their current positions.

We hiked up the hill on the western side of the bay, choosing not the take the overpriced funicular. We got as far as this view before coming to a gate with a house next to it where a mother and son were sweeping around the area. They were the toll collectors if you wanted to continue on to the top where there is a broken down amusement park, which we passed on.

No trip to San Sebastian is complete without a few visits to the Pintxos Bars. The setup is simple and similar to some tapas bars: preview the smorgasbord of yummy snacks on the bar (including tortillas, sandwiches of all sorts, croquettes, sausages, and fish) eat whichever ones look the most appetizing, then at the end tell the bar keeper how many and which ones you had. The honor system is in full effect here. We went to four or five different Pintxos Bars during our stay and tried a slew of snacks. Whatever napkins you have used are just thrown to the ground, and the floor is littered with them. It is also not uncommon to see a dog wander in off the street looking for scraps. We pondered about how this would never fly in the US. They are also known for a local drink called Txakoli, which is a white wine that is slightly carbonated. The customary way to serve it is by pouring it into a glass from the maximum height possible. The bar pictured above we visited twice because the food was delicious and each one costs 1.50 euro, and the purveyor was extremely nice.

Bayonne, town of colorful shutters

After the “big city” of Bordeaux, we reverted back to the smaller, more obscure towns – this time, Bayonne.

Here’s the view from our teeny but quaint room:

We dropped off our bags and immediately went on our explore-the-new-town walk. Like most towns we visited in France, Bayonne was once a Roman town, and the walls that surround the city have Roman foundations.

This is the Porte d’Espagne, “Gateway to Spain,” which was along the national highway to Spain for centuries. It was built by the Romans and re-fortified in medieval times.

Here is the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Ste-Marie – and the cloister attached to it. These were built in the gothic style from 1258-1450.

The inside of the cathedral is impressive with its height, stained glass windows, and walls full of priceless Renaissance art.

We stumbled upon the Chateau Vieux (Old Chateau), which was built in the 11^th century as a castle/residence for the rulers of the region. Some intriguing royals lived there, including the Black Prince of England. Now it is used by the military and is closed to the public.

This is the Chateau Neuf (New Chateau), which is across the river. It was built in 1460 by the English after the Hundred Years War. We kept finding the European concept of "New" vs. old pretty crazy, especially compared to our history.

All around town, there are these tiny alleyways with some medieval buildings, amid the white houses with colorful shutters:

Like many towns, our favourite views are at night. Here is the Hotel de Ville (town Hall) across the Saint-Espirit Bridge.

This is the “other side of the river.”

Here is the first course of another one of our wonderful 3-course French dinners – with local wine, of course.

We borrowed bikes 2 days, since the tourist office lent them out for free! The first day, we rode south along the River Nive. Here’s a view of the city from the south:

There were beautiful country homes…

And an official-looking building in the tiny town where we ended up:

The next day, we biked north along the River Ardour, to the beach. There were marinas along the way, on our way to Anglet and Biarritz.

And… the beach!

There was an energetic game of rugby going on –

We got back to Bayonne in time to watch a pelota match, the main sport of Basque country. It’s pretty much hand ball (racket ball without rackets). Looked brutal on the hands – it’s 2 vs. 2.

We were the youngest spectators by about 50 years.

Our last night in France (for a few months) – here’s the first course of another scrumptious 3-course meal.

The bus ride to Spain the next morning (through more Basque country) was beautiful!

Bordeaux, More Than A Wine

We originally nixed Bordeaux when we were coming up with our plans for France because of time constraints. But we ended up having a few extra days and decided that we would check it out. Our Lonely Planet book didn’t really talk it up much, so we were really surprised to find such a gem of a city.

Bordeaux, with a population of about 700,000, was the biggest city we had visited in France and it is much grander than what we had seen. There are wide boulevards, large squares and open spaces, a lovely boardwalk along the river, and some magnificent buildings. It’s kind of like a mini-Paris. There are also an abnormally large percentage of houses that have distinctive deep blue doors.

The city and region are known for the excellent wine (which it is and it is extremely affordable). We booked a room in what is also a long-term residence facility, so we got our own kitchen, which we took full advantage of. Even though the food in France is incredible, there’s only so much baguette, cream sauces, salt, cheese, custard, and rich food you can take. Here's a meal at home.

We stayed in the Chartrons neighborhood, originally an area of wine merchants. Now it is a student quarter with several universities in the area.

The Girondins fountain sits at one end of the Esplanade des Quinconces a large open, multi-purpose space that at this time was home to a huge carnival filled with rides, games, and fair food. The fountain has these huge bronze sculptures on either side that spray water during the warmer months.

From there we wandered through the main part of town that was bustling with people; a big change after spending most of our past couple weeks in smaller cities. After e brief stop at the tourist office, where we learned that all the major museums in the city are FREE, we found ourselves at the Museum of Decorative Arts and the chocolate fair held in the courtyard, where we sampled some locally made treats. The museum itself was originally a mansion and inside it had a collection of different furniture, sculptures, ceramics, and other decorative pieces. This was an interesting room with a strange table-piano and original wallpaper depicting scenes of ancient civilizations.

The Saint-André Cathedral is the main church of Bordeaux, which was consecrated in 1096, that sits in a large square adjacent to the Hotel De Ville. The outside has some highly decorative spires and entranceways, however the rest is pretty austere. The interior is quite plain with the exception of some intricate stone carvings on the pillars and walls towards the rear of the church.

There is a sizeable pedestrian area with many little squares with cafes that give Bordeaux a mini-Parisian feel. Also, their architecture and city structure is quite grand and includes this building, the Place de la Bourse. There are several river-front blocks that have this seemingly contiguous building with its grand façade and beautiful blue French roof. From here we walked down the wide boardwalk along the river back towards our accommodations.

The next day we visited the Museum of Fine Art. In the courtyard, there was this surprising modern crocodile that was strangely out of place. There was a nice collection of fine art paintings, including some Monets and Reniors.

This is Port Cailhau, a defensive gate built in 1493. It is 35 meters high (105 feet). It is definitely fairytale-esque and includes some of the defensive structures like portcullises and machicolations, which we learned about from the castle in Carcassonne.

We scaled the Tour Pey Berland, which was built in 1440-1500. It was built away from the church because they believed that the vibrations from the bells would damage the church. From the top we got this birds eye view of Bordeaux.

We happen to be in the city for their ‘Carnival’, which was a side show compared to what we saw in Nice. But nonetheless, there was some great energy and interesting floats, bands, and costumes. At the end of the parade they have a barge in the middle of the river that let off a small barrage of fireworks, that made Melbourne’s NYE firework show (that dwarfs in comparison to what we see in the US) look like war zone. Their biggest failure was having the show when it was still daylight, so I guess the booming sound effect was more of the objective.

When museums are free, you tend to stumble into them a lot more freely. This museum was the Musée d'Aquitaine that had an excellent collection of artifacts from the region and beyond. The bronze sculpture above is of Hercules that was found in a sewer in 1832. There’s something to be said of viewing a museum or attraction where you don’t feel pressured into ‘getting your money’s worth’.

The next day, we crossed the river and walked through their fairly unimpressive botanical garden. However, at the end of the garden is the river front with a great view back towards the city. In the Fine Arts Museum there was a painting from the 1700’s of the waterfront and it was interesting to see that many parts of the city remain the same, most notably the waterfront houses of different heights that look kind of like a collection of books on a bookshelf.

This is another tower leading into the city. It is a pretty massive structure that has had buildings built right up against it. There is a bell in the middle of the tower that goes off regularly.

The Église Sainte-Croix ("Church of the Holy Cross") was built in the late 11^th-early 12^th Century. The façade is interesting with mismatched towers and some intricate carvings, including one of St. George slaying the dragon.

Continuing our tour of churches, we visited Basilica of St. Michael. It was built between the end of 14th century and the 15th century. It has an amazing collection of stained glass windows that fill the interior of the church with a kaleidoscope of color. The spire in front of the church is absolutely enormous, although it was impossible to find how enormous.

Bordeaux really pops at night, so we end this post with some of our favorite night scenes.