Showing posts with label Pasajes San Juan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pasajes San Juan. Show all posts

Sunday 4 September 2011

164. September in the Pays Basque

2nd September 2011. Four years ago to the day, we were unwinding in the gîte after the long trek down to the Pays Basque in our rented van. It felt strange to be actually realising our dream of moving here - something we'd long dreamed of doing. Can't believe it was four years ago.. the time has just gone like whooosh.. Can't believe it..

September is probably the best time of the year to visit this beautiful corner of France.. The main summer tourist invasion has come and gone and the storms of August are usually followed by a couple of months of settled weather - often in the mid 20s - which is just nigh on perfect weather for sightseeing.

I found this photo the other day of La Rhune in the mist. It's an image that captivated us from the very beginning.
Thought for the day: "If you see a French driver using his indicators on a roundabout, you're looking at someone who is wondering why his windscreen wipers aren't working.."

3rd September 2011. Four years ago today I was returning the rented van back to England. I remember leaving the gîte at 7am and setting off northwards and, after a long 1400km (870 miles) drive, I arrived back at our village to the west of Malvern at 11pm. To be honest, I wasn't tired - and being alone I could concentrate on the driving, stopping only when essential. Not something I want to make a habit of though.

14 km on a very wet morning down on the river - (Running total: 957km). It rained from start to finish but it was warm rain and it kept us cool.. (said he - desperately trying to think of the positives!) and I returned home at the end of it like a drowned rat.

4th September 2011. The sun has just risen above the buildings opposite and everything is bathed in a warm yellow light. It looks like we're all set for a good day. Our friends from Nantes arrived yesterday and this morning we'll take them to the Musée Basque here in Bayonne and then this afternoon we'll go for a bumble around Lac Mouriscot (left) at Biarritz. It always surprises me how few people we meet walking around the lake - even at the height of the season - but I'm not complaining.

There are some very desirable properties that front onto the lake here - tucked discreetly into the trees.

Yesterday the boulevards around Bayonne echoed to the musical howl of multiple Ferraris as the local Ferrari owners club staged their annual open day at the Place de Basques. A small crowd was salivating over the display of around a dozen of Maranello's finest - all but one in the famous Ferrari blood red. Even stationary, they exuded speed, menace and yes, money.. lots of it.

6th September 2011. We went to Pasajes San Juan (map here) in Spain this morning.. It lies just to the east of San Sebastian and it has one of the best natural harbours I've seen. 
Pasajes San Juan
What was an old fishing village has been transformed into a modern port but the old village is still extremely quaint and charming. We found a fish restaurant (Casa Camara) which opened for lunch at the Spanish time of 1.30pm.. & people were still coming in for lunch at 3pm. Madame had merlu (hake) à la plancha and I had langostinos in garlic butter (gambas à l'ail) with a bottle of Portuguese Vinho Verde which was very refreshing. My langostinos were about the size of a baby's arm!
The dining room looked out on the narrow channel that led to the open sea.
Live lobster were kept in this cage which was raised up from the sea underneath the dining room so they were kept fresh.
Definitely somewhere to try again.. More photos here. Seafood heaven.

A number of small boats act as ferries between the two banks. (Apologies in advance for the music/noise) The restaurant we tried is featured at 1:37..

Tight fit!
 

Friday 11 March 2011

126. Pasajes San Juan

9th March 2011. Here's one for the next time it all goes quiet in the snug - instead of complaining about estate agents, why not try asking people if they're satisfied with their broadband download speed (yawn!). This suggestion is brought to you straight from the "Dinner Party Guide", Chapter 7 ("When talking flags - sure-fire gambits for re-starting conversations"). The speed of my broadband connection has been on my mind of late -  I've just tried a broadband speed test here and this (above) is what mine is reckoned to be. Is that good, bad or indifferent..? The truth is that I only had a dial-up connection in England and I must have spent hours waiting for web sites to dribble in. It seems the faster our connections are, they are never quite quick enough. Or is that just me?
11th March 2011. We went to Irun in Spain yesterday - just across the border from Hendaye - for some shopping. Spring is in the air and the trees there were starting to show greenery. I wanted to go and look at nearby Pasajes San Juan - somewhere I've wanted to visit for a while - but we didn't have time.
Irun
It's midway between Irun and San Sebastian and it's a quaint fishing village - with just the occasional big ship squeezing past! The fish restaurants there are reputed to be worth trying. Here's a link to some Spanish recipes (this is how Madame often does fish - and not just hake). Here are a couple of spectacular shots of the harbour entrance:
Pasajes San Juan
Pleasant outing on the river yesterday on a warm sunlit evening. Did a quick 10km in a quad sculler that I'm sure had a magnetic attraction to the banks! Say no more..! (Running total: 470km)

Update on supplies of Greek coffee (thought you'd never ask!): Whilst in Cannes, I found a large Arab grocers and looking around in the coffee section, I found 2 tins of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Turkish coffee! Bingo! 4€90 for 250gm. Amazon charges four times as much. One of the guys at the rowing club has a friend who regularly visits Athens in connection with his work and he's going to try and find some affordable Charalambous Greek Cypriot coffee for me as well. Now there's only one thing that goes well with this and that's a wee glass of Metaxa 5 star brandy. Maybe followed by another one.

12th March 2011. Out in a coxed quad sculler this morning. The guy who was 'stroke' must have had a new battery in because we raced up to the turnaround in one piece without stopping - turned around, only 2-3 minutes to rest before setting off like the clappers back to the clubhouse.. I've never been back so early! We were the first boat back by a street. 12 km. (Running total: 482km) More rugby this afternoon: Italy-France followed by Wales -Ireland. It's England-Scotland tomorrow afternoon.

PS. Some of you may have noticed that the blog threw a wobbly the other day - my fault. I'd ignored the old axiom: If it ain't broke, don't fix it*. Apart from the slightly new look, I think it's all back as it was - more or less. While I've still got the tools out, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see here and I'll see what I can do.

(*My Dad's version of this was: If it ain't broke, fix it until it is!)

PPS Diesel Price Watch. Diesel was 1.30€/litre in Spain yesterday. That's $6.79/US gallon or £1.12/litre. Ouch!