Saturday, August 7
I bid farewell to the caretaker at the AirBnB and rode to the other, less central beach. The round-abouts were richly decorated by flowers, there was enough dough left by tourists – and of course the owners of those luxurious villas must be paying their taxes, too. The beaches were closed due to strong currents, a surfer explained that these warnings were to be taken seriously. It did not look much different from the night before, but oh well, I played it safe. Those mansions right on the water, the exquisite 5* hotels they did not even allow to enter the courtyard of – it is a league of its own. Downtown, there was a market, selling everything from fish to flowers.
I decided on riding towards the Spanish border and that on a bike trail (yes, true) right next to the sea. It was quite a challenge as they were full of people walking and jogging, but the views were unparalleled. I rode by lush golf courses, houses with beautiful gardens.
Not long after Biarritz, I got to the town of Bidart, with a busy market was full of people, right in front of the city hall (“Mairie”) a group of singers were entertaining a crowd of onlookers with Basque folk songs. The song that I listened to was so heartwarming, even though I did not understand a word, I found myself signing along everyone else.
I then entered a wonderful church from the 16th century, Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, with wooden interior, a wonderful ceiling, side galleries. As with many other Basque churches on the coast, a model sailing ship was hanging n the middle from the ceiling. These were presented sailors as a token of gratitude after a long and dangerous journey.
Close to middle of August it was, somewhat overcast, not more than 25 degrees – pleasant for riding. This was a far cry from the heat in Barcelona and the Costa Brava, but up here, on the Atlantic coast, it does not get really hot. I could not get enough of the attractive architecture of the large houses as I was cycling westward.
The next major highlight was the resort town and port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz on the river Nivelle, known for its architecture and the sandy beaches. Historically, it was through piracy that its wealth was accumulated, by robbing British ships. The town was in fact so important, that Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain has their wedding here in 1660. The marriage is one of the most important political marriages in history that brought an end to a bitter Frenc-Spanish war. Today, visitors of the cathedral can see that the main door is bricked off. Two legends circulate this oddity: First, it has been said that the door the couple passed through was later closed to represent the closing of the troubles between France and Spain. A more popular theory among the locals is that the king, Louis XIV, ordered the door to be closed off, so no other couple could walk into the church to be married in his footsteps. Thanks, Wikipedia!
An amazing church, Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Jean-de-Luz, displayed yet another model sailing ship in the middle. It is known for its monumental altarpiece, in carved gilded wood which occupies the entire height of the back wall of the apse, and the two wings that flank it. Well, it had to host a royal wedding.
I loitered around the town and felt that I could have spent a couple of days here….but then, as usual, I had the desire to keep exploring on my bike. Before leaving town, I bumped into a large covered food hall, full of youngsters, enjoying different kinds of street food, this was at the Les Halles.
Just shy of the Spanish border, I got to Urrunge, where I found a church, Église Saint-Vincent, which I thought was even nicer than the one where Louis XIV had had his wedding. As wonderful it was, I was surprised that I was one of the only visitors – the wonderfully painted wooden roof, the wooden wings where you could climb up to, the huge organ – less pompous than that other church, for me, it was a wonder. The city hall standing opposite the church was a perfect example of Basque architecture.
I made it over to Spain to the town of Irun, not the most attractive towns, but luckily, I would find much prettier towns later on. Dinner was in a very small bar at the foot of some not-so-attractive communal houses, I had pintxos, which is the Basque version of tapas. in a small restaurant - it was tasty and rather inexpensive. Again, I have to rely on Google Timeline, apparently I visited a camping, called Oliden, I do not remember any of that – maybe I am getting old.
Here you can see the trip in Google Maps, it was 55 kilometers, with 518 meters of climbing and 527 meters of descending.