Arriving at the Basque country

After Arachon we had a brief stop at Cap Breton but it would have given Blacpool a run for its money so we moved on pretty quickly. Heading for the Basque country we passed Biarritz on our left. What once might have been a very classy seaside resort for the French elite is now a rather horrid concrete jungle. As the whole of this coast is known for its surf we did not anchor off and go ashore (there is no harbour); our pink dinghy does not surf well!








It was just 20 miles to the point where the coast turned west and the Basque mountains loomed large.

Just before pulling into the river that splits France and Spain we passed this rather super chateaux built in 1880 by a frenchman who spoke 17 languages and had done a lot of travelling; the whole of the inside was decorated in weird and wonderful designs from all over the world!

We moored up on the French side of the river (first mate and little helper at the helm) - this would be the last opportunity for the rather super pastries that we have enjoyed and would miss! 

The Basque region is fiercly independant  (remember the Eta bombings of the '70's?) and the people (and local language) are certainly different from other regions of France and Spain. The Basques are said to be descendants of a Celtic tribe (the one that didn't end up in Scotland, Ireland or Brittany!) drive over the Pyrenees by the Romans in the 1st century BC.
The pilot book told us of an interesting conundrum about mooring here. It is courteous and common practice to fly the flag of the nation you are visiting in the rigging; some also fly regional flags which should be flown immediately below the national flag. So the choices if moored in the Rio Bidasoa on either side are:-
1. Fly the French flag with the Basque flag below - and upset the Basques and the Spanish
2. Fly the Spanish flag with the Basques flag below and upset the Basques and the French
3. Fly the Basques flag and upset the both the French and the Spanish
4. Fly no flag at all and upset everybody - !!!
We plumped for the Spanish flag as we intended to moor on that side but ended up on the French side with our Spanish courtesy flag up so I think we added a 5th line!

We noticed early on in France that the French authorities do like their rules- they are even worse than the Germans! I particularly liked this sign at the trail head of the coastal foot path in Hendeye, the French side of the river.

No dogs (on or off the lead)
No bikes
No cars (on the coastal footpath) or motorbikes 
No matches
No tenting or sleeping outside
No wandering off the footpath

- the game is to spot what you are allowed to do.

However, what I love about the French is that they just ignore them all!

The other thing we have noticed here is how slim they all are, very few over weight people - cheese and red wine must be the answer (not forgetting the afternoon snooze)!

Not having had any mountains for a few weeks we hired a car and headed inland to do some walking in the Pyrenees Mountains. They have their very own Snowdon here, 3000' high, a few miles in from the coast, it even has a Victorian rack and pinion railway! The other similarity it had was the people, thousands of them despite picking a back route up! Oh well, it as a lovely day in the mountains.

 We have had our first sortie into Spain. Cycling over the river the change was extraordinary with everything looking distinctly poorer. However it did also look very Spanish! I am looking forward to exploring the rest of this coast.