213. Six Nations rugby heaven! (and chocolate..)

Wednesday, 12th February. I picked up a new pair of specs this afternoon and it's a pleasure to be back in a pin sharp world again. Now - where did I leave my teeth...? ☺

Sunday 23rd February. Forget the Winter Olympics, it's weekends like this that convince me that the RBS 6 Nations rugby tournament (cue hyperbole!) provides the world's finest sporting competition, bar none. Ireland has been the team to beat all season - experienced, hard-hitting, multi-talented and with great support. They beat Scotland comfortably in the opening fixture - the same weekend that saw England lose narrowly to France.

Over the second weekend, Ireland put last year's champions Wales to the sword in Dublin with a convincing 26-3 win and the other fixtures were predictably won by England and France (against Scotland and Italy respectively).

Over this last weekend, Wales played their socks off and hammered France 27-6 on Friday night.. and Scotland looked to be going down in Italy - the Italians just keep getting better - but the Scots scored a magnificent match-winning drop goal in the dying seconds to take a 20-21 win in Rome and the much needed points.

What could England do against Ireland yesterday..? In one of the most gripping and evenly-balanced matches in recent years, both teams were still playing and tackling like they meant it right up to the final whistle in a high tempo, high intensity encounter at Twickenham. I have to say that I think referee Craig Joubert (SA) was lenient with England's Owen Farrell who, on another occasion, could have been sin-binned with no questions asked. The last 15 minutes or so were played at breakneck pace as Ireland looked for a gap in England's defences but it wasn't to be and so England held on for a memorable, if unexpected, 13-10 win over the men in green. Games like this are won by very small margins. This is where rugby logic goes haywire.. French match commentators are fond of reminding us a certain country has logiquement  beaten another country - so in their world if Ireland thrashed Wales, and Wales thrashed France who beat England - logiquement England had no chance against Ireland yesterday.. However, when the game’s played with an oval ball, logique goes out of the fenêtre.

All of this means that the table looks like this - with four countries on 4 points in this order- Ireland, England, Wales & France..

Enjoy the highlights (or not, depending on your shirt colour!), in the order the matches were played:

Vidéo en Français..

Thought for the Day: As Dave Allen once observed, "The best battle hymn known to man is 'Here Comes the Bride'." ☺

Ainhoa (click to enlarge)

Thursday, 27th February. Here's a 5 minute film that neatly encapsulates an out-of-season visit to the Côte Basque.. The author starts off in Biarritz at the Hotel 7B (which is, as the French say - "très design") before moving on to the interior of the Pays Basque for a short stay at the Hotel Oppoca (right) at Ainhoa - a former favourite of ours. Lunch at the "Oppoca" was always a keenly awaited annual treat for us in the old days when we'd visit the Pays Basque each summer. Unfortunately, the hotel changed hands a few years ago and the memorable country cooking that the previous owners used to offer is sadly now a thing of the past. If you're happy with what I'd call food presented in the modern fashion (you know what I mean!), then by all means go ahead and drop in. If you haven't been fortunate enough to visit this jewel of a region before, then this excellent short clip will surely whet your appetite:  

Wednesday 5th March. I make no excuses for the next few lines on the subject of the annual Chocolate days at Bayonne. I lifted the French text from the website, ran it through Google Translate to produce a suitably mangled version of English for your edification and general reading pleasure.☺ I haven't been able to find the dates yet but this event usually takes place in May.. so it would be worth keeping an eye cocked on the Bayonne web site for further details if you fancy slathering yourself in melted chocolate.. (Quiet at the back please, ladies!) 

Making chocolate is a tradition Bayonne is famous in the city for nearly four centuries. Today, the city still has seven chocolatiers reference. Grouped guild, they perpetuate their expertise and created in 1993, an association working for the reputation of chocolate Bayonne: the Academy of Chocolate. 

To celebrate this divine delicacy, Bayonne hosts a highlight at Ascension du Chocolat days. For two days we book with relish dipping chocolate in the streets of the city. Visitors are also invited to enjoy the gourmet bites made ​​by the master craftsmen. Guided tours of the city, across streets and quays, trace the history of chocolate in Bayonne. Exhibitions, conferences, inductions ambassadors chocolate Bayonne also enrich the program of these delightful days. 

For this twentieth edition, two significant events to report. The first concerns the merger between the Guild and the Academy chocolatiers chocolate, now chaired by Jean- Michel Barate . The second is the tribute will be paid to the pioneers of this culinary art, the Portuguese Jews settled in Saint-Esprit since the fourteenth century , and which had imported know-how.

Historically, these days will be also marked by a conference in two parts, given by Michèle Kahn, author of Cocoa and George Dalmeyda, Jewish history buff, synagogue Bayonne Friday, May 10. Among other animations also a parade of giant puppets papier mache manufactured by Bayonne , leave the city center to reach Breuer homes. They will be accompanied by dancers Orai Bat, Oreka, Street art, the Mascarene, the association for the dissemination of Portuguese culture.

Then, as every year, the 2014 edition will be punctuated by events: dipping and tasting chocolate in chocolate, making workshop topics chocolate for children, guided tours, shop around the book at the library, musical entertainment..

This demonstration is from Antton Chocolatier, Espelette:

This one's from Cazenave..

Followed up by Daranatz:

.. and then finally there's Pariès:

Monday, 10th March. You would have had to have been living on the Planet Zanussi not to know that England played Wales yesterday in the 4th round of the annual RBS 6 Nations tournament.. England hit the ground running and quickly established dominance over a surprisingly lack-lustre Welsh side.. Once it was clear that Plan A wasn't working, I fully expected them to switch to Plan B. Unfortunately it appeared that there was no Plan B. Danny Care was a real live wire throughout and he scored a stunning opportunist try in the opening minutes as Wales stood there as if sleepwalking.. The same fixture last year ended in a thumping 30-3 win for the Welsh and it was subsequently billed as "Men against Boys".. Yesterday's match (final score 29-18) could be described as "Men against Boyos" as England dominated Wales in just about every aspect of the game!☺

Enjoy:

My doctor told me that jogging could add years to my life. He was right, I feel 10 years older already!

Here's a video of the Pyrenees that someone sent me - stunning images (but, if I'm being honest, the music is a bit dated)..

Best viewed in 1080p HD full screen..

21st March.. aka the first day of Spring..! While I think about it, we ate outside on the terrace yesterday for the first time this year.. I'm told by the neighbour that it was 26°!

"You know you're getting old when.."  This might become a series! I wanted to retrieve something from the car this morning and so I went out across the road to where it was parked.. I pressed the key button to unlock the doors and nothing happened. I made sure I was pressing the right button and pressed it again.. I tried the door handle - hoping against hope - but still nothing.. I looked inside to see if it had been broken into and damaged in some way.. but everything was where it should be - even down the the mini box of Tic-Tacs by the gear lever.. Then - I remembered..! There's a lady with an identical car to ours who parks her car in the avenue every day.. It couldn't be.. or could it? I stepped around to the back and looked at the plate - aaaarrgghh! Yes, it was hers..! D'oh! I'm not safe to be let out on my own!

Followers of the Six Nations rugby tournament will be aware that Ireland carried the day with England breathing down their necks a close second (but still second!). Some excellent rugby was played and a few new faces emerged.. Here's how the table looked at the end..

Here are the highlights:

No story of the 6 Nations and indeed World rugby would be complete without mentioning Brian O'Driscoll - one of the greatest players of all time. He's certainly one of the greatest players ever to pull on a green jersey and Ireland has produced some legendary players.. Enjoy:

There are few instruments in the world that have the power to move the soul like the Uilleann pipes.. This is Davey Spillane with a high quality recording of "Caoineadh cu Chulainn"..

 To finish up with, here's Davey with that old Dubliners favourite "Boulavogue"..

  

One last one while we've got the Irish bit between our teeth.. Here's Planxty starting with "Raggle Taggle Gypsy O.."

87. Strangers in town!

Friday 24th September 2010. This time last week I was picking up three of my relatives at Bordeaux airport who were going to be staying with us for a few days. The first to arrive were my cousin M and her Canadian husband R who had flown over from Toronto via Paris; they were followed a short time later by S, my cousin from England. We'd been greatly looking forward to their visit since we first invited them over a year ago. I'd been looking at the long range weather forecasts for weeks and, after a prolonged spell of great summer weather down here, clouds and rain were being predicted over the five days of their stay in the Pays Basque. I shouldn't have worried as far as they were concerned - for Canadians like M & R, anything north of freezing point is a bonus! They'd have been just as happy here if it had been snow and ice!

Hotel/restaurant Ramuntcho, St Jean Pied de Port

As it turned out, despite all the gloomy predictions of the weather forecasters, they were treated to perfect weather every day they were here.. it couldn't have been better for them with blue skies and temperatures up in the mid twenties. They really saw the Pays Basque at its very best. For me, one of the many highlights was a lunch we had one day at St Jean Pied de Port. We had thought of taking them to one of our favourite places, the hotel/restaurant "Ramuntcho", an excellent family-run traditional establishment set squarely in the historic part of town.

(Edited to add in 2023: It appears that the restaurant could be closed. Worth checking)

Unfortunately, when we arrived there we found it was their closing day so, after exploring the picturesque street with its Pilgrim* signs everywhere and walking along the old fortified walls of the town, we found our way across the main road to the Hotel Central** (below), situated on a bridge high above the Nive. While its stylish and cool dining room was tempting, we found a shaded table for five out on their terrace that overlooked the river and - well, all I can say is: try it for yourselves..! That lunch will live long in the memory.

* Santiago de Compostela
**Needless to say, I have no commercial interest in this hotel or any other business recommended here.


We also took them to San Sebastian and stopped for a lunch of pintxos (tapas) at our favourite dog-friendly bar Aralar (follow the link for photos) in the heart of the old town.

There was the usual colourful and mouth-watering display of pinxtos - bite-sized appetisers made with prawns, fish, crab, croquettes, tortilla, jamon, egg, red peppers stuffed with cod and many other tasty morsels too numerous to mention - set out all along the self-service bar-top which you then take to the friendly multi-lingual barman (who speaks at least 5 languages) for him to total up.

Aralar

What to drink? Sangria is the drink of choice at Aralar which they serve in an oversized glass (tough job but someone has to do it!). After a bracing 130 octane unleaded extra virgin cold pressed Spanish espresso to finish off with, we emerged blinking into the sunlight, stuffed to the gills, feeling suitably mellow and riding 'very low in the water'*, to wander around the beautiful old streets of San Sebastian for a while in the late afternoon sun.

* A saying of Bill McLaren's, rugby's greatest ever commentator.

La Concha, San Sebastian

We narrowly escaped bumping into Julia Roberts who was breezing through town and due in a plush downtown hotel on a whistle-stop tour around Europe to promote her latest film. Her loss! This review suggests to me that the film has all the essential ingredients that any successful chick flick needs. Without being too dinosaur-ish about it all, when it plays in Bayonne I reckon I'll be otherwise engaged giving my sock drawer the Mother Of All Tidyings ..! Anyway, don't let my curmudgeonly ramblings put you off. Here, for all you ladies out there, is the trailer.. (tell me I'm wrong!)

Another unexpected bonus occurred during a visit to a sunny St Jean de Luz.. We found out on arrival that the Patrouille de France were going to be displaying a little later over the bay.. so we found a good vantage point on the sea wall. The team is led this year by a woman - Commandant Virginie Guyot.

We took our visitors around all our favourite places in the Pays Basque - as well as San Sebastian, St Jean Pied de Port and St Jean de Luz, we visited Ascain, Sare, Ainhoa, Saint Etienne de Baïgorry (where we bought some Irouléguy from the cooperative), Biarritz and of course Bayonne. It was great to see them here but suddenly it was the day of their departure for Carcassonne and their stay with us was over all too soon. It seemed as though we'd only just said hello to them before we were saying goodbye. There is so much more here we could have shown them. For instance, one of our favourite villages is Sare - notable for the distinguished old Hotel Arraya in the centre. We had lunch there one day - it was worth the trip just to see the dining room (below)..

Being totally honest, we both found the portions on the light side - even accepting that in these days of nouvelle cuisine, a groaning table is a thing of the past.

If you do visit the region, you have to try the wines.. They're not quirky oddities, they don't fall into the "don't travel" category and you definitely won't regret it. Just ensure that both the reds are not cool from your cellar.. pop them into your airing cupboard to bring the temp up a few notches.

Having tried many of the Irouléguys I'd recommend the Irouléguy Gorri d'Ansa (expect to pay ~8-9€ in a shop). There is a white Irouléguy but I've not tried it. I'd say 9 out of 10 bottles of Irouléguy are red. (Edited to add: these are 2010 prices)

Madiran? Chateau Peyros would get my vote. Yes, there are cheaper alternatives but as always... fill in the rest yourself!

As for the Jurançon, I don't know it sufficiently well to recommend one above another. You can find dry and doux (sweet) Jurançon. The dry is excellent with seafood whereas you should save the doux as an apero or with foie gras or dessert. (Edited to add: We had a Domaine Cauhapé recently.. wonderful!) If unsure which one you're looking at, the doux Jurançon has a hint of amber in the colour whereas the dry is very pale.

If you find yourself standing in front of a shelf feeling a tad confused, always remember this tip.. Look at the label to see if it gives the name of the Propriétaire - it might say Mis en bouteille par - bottled by Gaston Dupont (made up name). As a quick rule of thumb, I think if someone is prepared to put his name on his wine it counts for more than one produced by a Société.. How will you know if it's been produced by a Société..? At the base of the label, you might see the word Société or you might see an acronym - something like SCEA or something close to.. That means the wine has been produced by a number of growers and well.. human nature being what it is etc etc. Reading the label though is no substitute for tasting a wine at the right temperature and with food. At this point I'll put my tin hat on and await the incoming!

25th September 2010. The skies looked a bit threatening this morning on my way down to the rowing club.. The river was in full flood mode and there was one heck of a strong downstream current. We had about 3 yolettes (beamy 'fours' for beginners) out on the water and they were barely making any headway up-river. I went out in a quad sculler and, sure enough, fifteen minutes into the outing there was a downpour.. Ah well, 'tis only water.. Did 12 km (running total 190km).

26th September 2010. Down to the beach at Anglet this afternoon to enjoy the sunshine and we sat and relaxed watching the rollers surging in and bursting in explosions of foam and spray against the jetty there.

28th September 2010. My cousin brought me a fascinating book about the Royal Flying Corps and that's enough of an excuse for me to replay the late Rik Mayall at his very best:

Out in the VIII (rowing, not sculling) this evening.. Set off late due to a small tech problem so we headed off down river to join the wide open spaces of the Adour. There was a rolling swell as we neared the sea which made for uncomfortable rowing so we turned about and came back. 12km (running total 202km)

30th September 2010. We went to Biarritz this morning - Madame had an appointment at the hairdressers there so I ambled around with the pooch doing pensioner impressions for an hour - shouting at passing traffic, blocking pavements, pulling doors marked push - that sort of thing. Then, after she'd finished, we had a pizza in a place opposite Barclays Bank (near Hotel Windsor). Delicious pizza - highly recommended..

Went rowing this evening in a quad sculler - 12km (running total 214km).

2nd October 2010. 15km this morning in a IV. (running total 220km)

5th October 2010. 12km (total 232km)

9th October 2010. 16 km (total 248km)

61. Tourist week

15th May 2010. This week, we had M here for a few days. She's an old friend of Madame's and our first visitor of the year. After the unexpected heat of April (up to 28), the clouds and rain returned and the temps dropped down to 10-12C.. Brrr! We thought M was going to be in for a rough time but the weather gods smiled on her as the skies cleared and on Monday last it was 24.. We gave her our patented lightning 2 day tour of the Pays Basque.. On Monday morning I showed her around the narrow winding streets of Bayonne while Madame was at her painting class. As M's yet another fully paid up member of the Chocaholique Club.. (show me a woman who isn't!) I thought I'd take her to the legendary établissement Cazenave under the arcades in the Rue Port Neuf for a hot chocolat à l'ancienne served in porcelain de Limoges. But, I'd forgotten it was Monday and, like quite a few other shops in town, it was closed. This is what she missed:

Cazenave make their own chocolate and it is really the Rolls Royce of chocolate.

We ended up having a cappucino here - sitting outside the Hotel de Ville in the sunshine.

Following this, we wandered through the quiet Monday morning streets of town, stopping only at the cathedral where we walked around its ancient honeyed stone cloisters before returning home for lunch.. In the afternoon we drove down to St Jean de Luz where someone had clearly just opened a fresh box of pensioners as the streets were full of strolling baby boomers.. We must have reduced the average age of people in town by 10 years.. (maybe!)

The clock was ticking and so we upped sticks and moved up the coast to Biarritz. Walking along the promenade the temperature must have been around 24 at least.. it felt like summer was with us again.

The next day we headed inland under grey skies (ouf!) to show M some of the delights of the Pays Basque such as St Etienne de Baigorry, St Jean Pied de Port and Ainhoa (one of the most beautiful villages in all of France). St Jean Pied de Port is on the pilgrim trail to Santiago de Compostela in north western Spain. After walking through the timeless streets of St Jean Pied de Port, M was kind enough to treat us to lunch at the Hotel Ramuntcho. This is a classic French family-run restaurant and the reasonably priced lunch was delicious. After this we set off for the valley of Les Aldudes (which I've mentioned before). Unfortunately, it was still quite misty up there and the true splendour of the mountain scenery was largely hidden. Ainhoa was next and it's a village which, at the height of the season, is an absolute tourist honey-pot. It's almost a stone's throw from the Spanish border and it seems a long way from Calais! We found an old cafe that looked as if it hadn't been altered for 100 years and had a coffee and found space for a piece of gâteau basque.

  

Here's a classic track from Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton. I don't think she got the recognition her voice deserved.. her voice is pitch perfect and has a clarity all of its own.  

14. Of oysters and folklore..

Another day we decided to go to "Les Halles", the food market in Bayonne on the banks of the Nive; however, when we arrived there, we found ourselves in an area we hadn’t been to before and there were quite a few cafes with tables outside built on to the market that were serving seafood and oysters. Lots of people were sat out quaffing oysters and white wine so we sat at a table in the sunshine.

Covered market (Halles de Bayonne), Bayonne

They had a good little menu – they were offering half a dozen oysters and a glass of white for 7.20€ - that’s about £4.95 - so we had a dozen oysters between us. But only 3 worked…! (Sid James laugh!) They were No 3s.. & slightly larger than the No 4s that we normally have – they were bigger and deeper – and after four, Madame had had enough. I always find with oysters that, after I’ve had a few, my imagination starts to take over and I start thinking about what I’m putting in my mouth. It’s fatal to look too closely at them…! I just managed to finish off the rest - in line with the time honoured family motto – “Operor non licentia quisquam in vestri patella vos ingratus parum uredo” - which roughly translates as “Don’t leave anything on your plate, you ungrateful little bleeder  blighter”! After the oysters we had some local paté, with crusty bread and a salad.

Following this bijou snackette, we drove to Hasparren, which is another typical Basque village about 10-15 miles from where we are. When we arrived there at 3pm, it seemed like the whole village had turned out in black for a funeral in the big church that dominated the centre.

The clock struck three and then the bells started a funereal tolling… and those words by John Donne sprung to mind - “No man is an island, entire of itself... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” This quote has always had a resonance with me for some reason. Wish I could remember the entire thing. There wasn’t much going on in Hasparren (what with the entire village being at the funeral) so after looking around, we headed for home.

One Sunday, we went to a festival in Bernadette & Philippe's village when they bring all the pottoks (wild horses) down from the mountains for the winter and run them through the streets. It was a huge all day event with all kinds of folklorique things going on. The previous weekend we'd been at the restaurant when they'd asked us if we were going to be going be there for lunch on the following Sunday because apparently the village always gets invaded by hordes of beret-toting Basques (and we’d have to book early) and the festival goes on all day and night. They advised us to get there by 9am just to be able to park…! All the restaurants serve the same menu that day – and all we knew was that it was going to be based on apples.

Mme D gave us another 6 fresh eggs plus some more of her fresh sweet green peppers that she grows. Madame made one of her award-winning “6 egger” omelettes (cries of “You’ll be egg-bound!” or “You’ll get boils!” from the wings) with the green peppers in - which we eased down with some very inky red wine from Cahors – which we'd found somewhere at ~£2 a bottle.

Another Sunday morning came – and what was special about this one was the Sunday morning hunting… It sounded like November 5th as I walked up the hill with the dog… there were single bangs, double bangs in quick succession and then what sounded like a bad night in Baghdad as local hunters attempted to blow the wings off a sparrow or summat using what sounded like a belt-fed mortar.. The bangs were coming from all around and ranged from the deafeningly near to the barely audible..

We arrived at 'our' village on the Sunday just as they were diverting traffic around it because they were expecting big crowds.. We started off in the bar in the restaurant where we had a coffee and a croissant – although others were already into the armagnac - at 9am..

In the field next to the restaurant a marquee had been set up and filled with benches and tables where the feeding of the 5,000 was going to take place later on. They had all the local varieties of cattle and sheep in pens and many of the people were in traditional costume. Some real Basque faces there. There were drums and fifes going off all over the place. While we were waiting for the thunder of hooves, there were a few demonstrations of Basque country dancing and you could see parallels with some English country dancing. There was one where they danced with sticks – a bit like Morris dancing but minus the sheer entertainment value.

One troupe looked really weird.. They had conical hats on their heads that must have been 3 feet high, a shaggy sheepskin top with 2 enormous cow bells tied behind their backs and they adopted a funny high-stepping walk in order to make these bells clang with each step.. (and I’ve missed out a lot of detail here). Edited to add: I've since found out that they are called "Bellringers" or Joaldunak in Basque:

This really has the look of a unique culture that owes nothing at all to the rest of western Europe..

Pottoks

Then a few horsemen and –women came galloping down the hill, followed by a number of horsemen from the Camargue area of France. They were using saddles that looked like they'd originated in the Middle Ages – these had the high backs and fronts like the knights of old used to have. They were dressed in dark suits, they were all moustachioed and all wore low crowned, wide brimmed black trilbies.. Who was the spiv in "Dad’s Army"..? Private Walker - yes, him! They all looked like him.. “Spivs on Horseback!” Then about a couple of hundred horses came galloping down the narrow lane – it was quite a sight.. After that, we went for a walk around the village as we’d been standing in one spot for too long. Jumpy leg!

When we got back, it was time to ease our way into the restaurant for lunch. It was fully booked, inside and out. Luckily, they’d reserved us a table outside on the terrace but thankfully in the shade as it was very hot by this stage. They gave us a strong cider with something added to it which knocked us out.. phew! People were being turned away in droves. Because of the numbers, all the restaurants in the village were serving the same meal – local lamb. While we were having lunch we could hear the presentation of prizes over the tannoy and the big prizes were given away by Michelle Alliot-Marie. We saw her in Biarritz years ago when she was the mayor there and I remember thinking at the time that she had star quality and that she’d go far. She’s now the Minister for the Interior* (equivalent to the Home Secretary in the UK). I was amazed that she’d turn up to a small place like 'our' village.. She’s a local though and has family in the area. We were told that when they had bad flooding and landslides in and around the village in 2006 that she was there in three hours and she mobilised all the government aid and support. Think she’s on the ball. After she’d finished she walked by us accompanied by a couple of heavies.


Ainhoa

After this we went to Ainhoa (above), a beautiful village on the border, and from there across into Spain to fill up the car with diesel. After this, we came back into France and stopped in a small oak forest where we put the travel rug down in the shade of a big tree and we fell asleep for a while in the heat. The dog was the first one to start snoring, closely followed by – well, I’ll let you guess!

Saint-Jean-de-Luz

After this we went to Saint-Jean-de-Luz to walk some of the lunch off along the front. Finding a space was hard – it was almost like summer – and we ended up parking just behind the front in a shady avenue with some great houses but, knowing what we know now, the prices would be telephone numbers. We trolled along the front until we found a spot with some shade – it was very hot with not a cloud in the sky. Big waves were rolling in and there were a few jet-skis out surfing the big waves. Fun to watch. We stayed there for quite a while eventually coming back at about 7pm.

* At the time of writing (Sept 2009) MAM - as she's known here - is the Minister of Justice.