Off to the South

On July 12, after two days of shivering in Paris, I boarded the high speed train to Bayonne in the southwest corner of France. And there had "Blue skies, nothin' but blue skies from from now on!"

This Bayonne is pronounced "bye" as in "bye-bye" and "yun" as in nothing I can think of. That other pronunciation you were thinking of, (bay- yone), is a city in New Jersey. Both Bayonnes are near the Atlantic coast, albeit on opposite sides of the Pond. 

Bayonne, France, is a small city at the confluence of two rivers - the Nive which flows into the Adour which then flows to the Atlantic, 7 kilometers away. (Let's see, divide by 8 and multiply by 5 = 5 miles.) Both are part of the tidal basin, so the currents flow both ways depending on whether the tide is coming or going out. This also explains the muddy color, as the clay sediments are constantly being stirred up. One hardly notices this thanks to the colorful house painting!

On the quay along the Nive.

Restored covered market

Typical Basque-style house.

My serious professional justification for this July trip to France was to attend a 12 day seminar for French teachers. Were I still teaching, it would count as professional development and allow me to keep my teacher certification. My motivation this time (and last time, and most times...) is that (a) French is spoken the entire time and I therefore keep up my fluency and  (b) the organizer does a brilliant job of creating a whole experience including study of a different region every summer, hiring a local professor to lead the study sessions, and mixing in interesting excursions, afternoon tourism, beautiful hotels, and restaurants offering authentic regional and traditional French cuisine.  And let's not forget that it's really, really fun.

Here is the scene of our first lunch in a riverside café.

Bayonne is in the heart of the French Basque country in southwestern France. The Basque community extends from Bayonne south into northern Spain. 

Bayonne is at the northernmost point along the Atlantic coast in the dark turquoise area above. The three blue-ish regions are in France: the yellow, tan and two green ones are in Spain.

The very ancient culture of the Basque people has survived thanks to the Pyrennees Mountains which isolated the area from the rest of Europe throughout history.  Their language, Euskara, is related to no other language, and is the last remaining descendant of pre-Indo-European languages in Europe; i.e from before 3000 bce. Some think that its roots go back to the Stone Age. The Romans, who aggressively spread Latin all over the Mediterranean world, never made it here. 

The Basques fought on the losing side during the Spanish Civil War in 1938, and suffered harsh repression afterwards under the long dictatorship of General Franco. Just speaking a few words of Basque, or showing the colors of the Basque flag could get one tossed into prison, tortured and/or killed by the Guardia Civil. 

Basque flag

Despite General Franco's harsh repression of the Spanish Basques, or perhaps because of that repression, there is now a renaissance of Basque language and a strengthening of their community - now an autonomous region within Spain.  The French Basques are more assimilated into the majority culture, a goal of the French Republic dating back to the Revolution. The idea was to implement free, public education to unify what was then a patchwork of regional cultures.

OK - the teacher is quitting for the day. Here are some pretty pictures.

Medieval Fair in the old part of the city.

Though running of the bulls is traditional in this region, the Bayonne fair has opted for a safer street event!

My favorite fair event - mountain cheeses! 

I admit I was put off by the very un-natural colors of these cheeses.

Sightseeing in Bayonne took us to old streets, a cathedral, and a chocolate tasting.

I think the yellow part is the recently restored part of the facade, as it is the color of the original stone.

My room-mate, Laurie, and I at the chocolate museum.

I met a new friend there!

For only 6 euros ($8) we not only learned everything there is to know about chocolate, but we got to taste lots! And you can bet that I did not skip even one of these.

One evening In a café by the river, I had this wonderful dish. It's mussels a la plancha, with a sauce of olive oil, garlic and the local spice, espelette. 

Even for me, this was too much to finish! I hated to leave even one.  

So "Au revoir" for now - Next time I'll take you on a trip to the Pyrenees mountains and beautiful Basque villages.