206. Sunday morning in the mountains

2nd August 2013. For most of July, heat and high humidity lay across the Pays Basque like a warm blanket and we retreated indoors behind closed shutters and stayed there. Fortunately, that spell of weather broke and now we're enjoying summer.

26th August 2013. I'm involved with an association down here that is concerned with the activities of Comète - the WWII escape & evasion network that actively helped repatriate hundreds of shot-down Allied aircrew shot down in the Low Countries and northern France. Over a long weekend in mid-September each year there's a commemoration here - the Friday sees us laying wreaths in various locations, a speech or two followed by vins d'honneur à volonté! On the Saturday & Sunday we walk over the same tracks across the mountains and into Spain that were used during the war, wading across the river Bidassoa that marks the frontier where these days, instead of being shot at by Franco's Guardia Civil, the Basques from l'autre côté welcome us with grilled sardines and cider.. Sunday sees us making an early start - a 7.30am scramble up what feel like a near-vertical hill rising up from the river before easing off. The goal this time is Sarobe borda, a remote old farm high up in the Spanish Basque country that sheltered hundreds of evaders throughout the war. Nothing has changed there - today they offer us the same welcome as they always did with the shattered aviators who used to stagger in exhausted and footsore at dawn back then - with beef broth, homemade hot tortillas and full-bodied Rioja - after which they slept in a hay loft.

Yesterday, a few of us had a dry run of the Saturday programme to show the route to a few new Basque mountain men who would act as guides next month. After leaving home at an ungodly hour, we all met up and set off at 8am.. The air was clean and fresh with the smell of wild mint in the air.

Here are a few photos to give you a flavour of the day..

Fortunately, the first line of hills obscures what lies behind..!

 Just when you thought you'd reached the summit, up ahead there was another daunting steep climb..

 Fortunately it was in the low 20s yesterday and this time I had 2 sticks to help me up the climbs..

 This is Hendaye (France) with Fontarribia (Spain) in the background..

Getting higher.. There's a vulture on this photo (above).. There's a v-shaped notch on the left hand side and the bird is just visible on the right of the vee.

We came across the skeleton of a small pottok.. a wild horse that lives in the mountains. Its bones had been picked clean by the vultures and all that remained was its tail.

Breath-taking scenery up there..

This is the summit where we bumped into a man walking his dog for an early morning walk on a mountain top.. (as you do!)

This was a working farm we came across on the descent.. she was living the life as it's always been lived there.. Fortunately we had 4 Basque speakers with us and she was kindness itself.

 

 This tranquil scene is the Bidassoa - marks the Franco-Spanish frontier. (full of good-sized trout) 

When the river was raging high and wading across in the dark wasn't an option, the evaders would walk upstream for 4-5kms to this former power station where a simple suspension bridge a couple of feet wide was rigged up in those days. Today, that's been replaced by a modern bridge. The walk along the bank - up and down the high bank on loose jagged footings was as hard as anything we did yesterday.. We were all drenched in sweat..

We finished up at a restaurant - where else.. (this is France!) - and this was the salad (très copieux as they say here) my neighbour was served with as a starter!!

205. Signs of life from the Pays Basque

Thursday, 27th June 2013. You'll be pleased to learn that I'm not going to delve into the rights and wrongs of the proposed abolition of the Winter Fuel Payment to British expats in the EU. Here's Matt's view of it!

Tuesday, 2nd July 2013. I realise I've not been keeping the blog up to date lately but, if it please the court, I will explain. Madame has been laid low these past few weeks - and as a consequence all her domestic duties have been picked up by your correspondent. I'd always thought we shared those tasks down the middle but I've come to realise that she'd been doing the lion's share - so blog maintenance has had to take a back seat to other, more pressing, jobs (such as the ironing!☺). The other main reason for dust gathering on the blog has been the weather..

The start of July usually sees us in summer mode. Normalement, this means that the neighbours should, by now, have become fully re-accustomed to the sight of their favourite Brit in his shorts; the plancha should have emerged from its winter storage to be manhandled up to the terrace and both of us should be well on our way to a becoming bronzage! Oh yes, and SaxMan™ should be in his customary place opposite the War Memorial playing endless riffs. I mean the same 10 second riff endless times. Alas, none of these things have happened. A month ago, the local TV was reporting that out of the first 149 days this year, it had rained on 100 of them.. We've hardly made any trips out and about and the plancha is still tucked away in the dark recesses of the garage. And I've only seen SaxMan™ once this year.

In the midst of all the recent dramas, Madame's laptop went on the fritz.. The warning signs had been present for a few months - but familiarity had bred contempt. It had started slowing down and it was taking longer and longer to do the simplest of tasks, even though I'd spring-cleaned its hard drive. Then one night it happened..   

Her laptop had steadily accumulated a number of irregularities over the years that I'd been unable to resolve. I think it served her well for 10 years so it'll be going to the final resting place (aka the top of the wardrobe) once she's up to speed with her new one. This could take some time as her new laptop comes with Microsoft's latest offering, Windows 8. The guiding principle that surely motivated the MS Software Development Team responsible for W8 must have been: If it ain't broke, fix it till it is. Software intended for domestic consumption should be highly intuitive and user friendly. (that's a statement of the obvious isn't it?) Very few of us are that interested in the whys and wherefores of software; for us a PC is a tool - the means to an end. It makes me feel better to imagine that these (below) are the Microsoft software engineers responsible!

You have to remember that these were the bright sparks who configured the display of all of their software prior to W8 such that to switch off your PC, you had to click on the START button. D'oh..

Enough of the Microsoft sadsacks - here's one of the most beautiful pieces of chorale music I've heard for a long time - it's Adon Olam sung here by the Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir:

The Fêtes de Bayonne kicks off in 3 weeks tomorrow.. Over a million people pour into Bayonne (Pop: 40,000) and in previous years this was all the encouragement we ever needed to head for the hills to escape the crowds. The recent storms however have devastated many of the roads and villages in the area of the high Pyrenees that we like - so I think we'll be staying here for the duration.

This was Lourdes two weeks ago:

This next clip gives you an idea of the sheer volume of water that tore through some of the villages in the Pyrenees:

Still on the storms: a couple of years ago we stayed at this hotel (left) at Luz-Saint-Sauveur in the Hautes-Pyrénées over the period of the Fêtes de Bayonne and every evening we ate outside on the terrace (right) listening to the trickle of running water (I can hear you thinking that's not a good idea at my age - and you'd be right!) Here's that very same scene again during the storms of mid-June (the white box being tossed casually around in the waves is a fridge). The terrace comes into shot at 00:17: 

If the above clip won't start, here's a link to it on YouTube.

Time for a good song - here's one I always liked - Nathalie (English lyrics here) by Gilbert Bécaud:

A favourite scene from Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown":

Finally, hold on tight to something, anything.. I feel ill just watching this..

Friday, 5th July 2013. This morning I had to go to the pharmacy around the corner to rent a wheelchair for a few weeks as Madame is getting cabin fever with having been confined to the house for the past month. Unlike many other places I can think of, it was very refreshing not to have to sign any forms in quadruplicate, produce an ID or leave a deposit (or a swipe of a credit card) - nothing. The pharmacist just asked me my name and address, wrote it on a piece of paper and that was that. This is one of the fringe benefits of having an honest face!☺

That done, we went out to Carrefour for a spot of retail therapy. They had a promotion on Coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops to you and me) so Madame said she'd do them in a creamy sauce with tagliatelle.. and 'erbs! The table's all set up outside, the rosé is chilling off in  the fridge, the temp is ~25°.. what more do you want! I think the best plan is for you to take a walk around town for an hour or so while I deal with these scallops! (and the wine!) At times like this, all the debate about the Winter Fuel Payment fades into insignificance..☺ 

Saturday, 6th July 2013. What a great win today for the British & Irish Lions against the Wallabies.. and what a great advert for the game: skill, passion, bravery, strength, aggression, emotion, fitness, teamwork, magnanimity and perhaps above all, respect. Both teams - take a bow. This was the must-win game of all must-win games.. After 2 Tests, the teams were separated by only a couple of points - and so everything was riding on this 80 minutes of rugby. Sit back and enjoy if you're a Lions fan. If not, have another cold one.. Here are the match highlights:

12th July 2013. OK, it's official - summer is here! Yesterday I heaved the plancha out of its winter hibernation in the garage down the bottom of the garden, up the steps (phew!) and parked it thankfully in its resting place for what's left of the summer! Then it was out with the teak oil to polish up the "chariot" that it stands on - followed by cleaning up all the metal surfaces.

Today, before the morning got too hot, I was out early & down to the local poissonnerie (fishmonger) where I bought some fresh sardines, a thick slice of fresh red tuna, a freshly-caught gleaming merluchon (hake), some crevettes (prawns) and finally 2 crêpes (pancakes) stuffed with coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops) in a rich creamy sauce. Then to the market building down by the river where Madame had phoned an order through for a roast of duck breast stuffed with orange - we have visitors on Monday.

At lunchtime (27° in the shade), the plancha was lit, brushed with olive oil and 5 minutes later it was ready to receive its first sardines of 2013.. They were quickly gutted and then placed on the sizzling plancha.. The smell could be photographed without too much effort I'm sure! Just before they were ready, Madame sprinkled some of this (left) over the fish which only heightened the anticipation of those watching (like me for example!). This was eased down with some dry Listel Gris rosé.. Then it was time for himself to make a couple of Greek coffees. Dis am de life - an' no mistake!

Techie question: If I launch the blog using Google Chrome it invariably "freezes" and ceases to respond - whereas if I open it with Internet Explorer 10, it's rock solid. Is it me or does anyone else have problems accessing the blog using Chrome? Let me know via the comments underneath or the email contact address in the left hand column. Thanks in advance!☺

Towards the tail end of the swelteringly hot afternoon I went out to a large garden centre to pick up a garden bench in kit form. I picked a shady spot down the bottom of the garden in which to assemble it and on opening up the packaging I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was made in Germany - not the PRC as China coyly calls itself.

The bench went together with a satisfying precision (Vorsprung durch technik) and an hour later I was admiring my handiwork - although as the humidity was way up there, I was dripping. The last few days have seen us wilting under high temps with humidity to match. This is not a problem that we usually suffer from. Let's hope normal service is resumed as soon as possible.

After a shower we sat out with a welcome drink.. Madame had a sangria while I made the most refreshing drink known to mankind - a caipirinha..

This is made with cachaça (Brazilian rum made from sugar cane), segments of limes that have been crushed, sugar to taste and .. well, watch the video..

Really - the perfect drink on an evening like this. Felicidades!

204. Prague Spring

10th May 2013. We're back home in the Pays Basque after a week in Prague and southern Bohemia. As it was a French holiday, the final leg of our journey - the drive back from Paris to Bayonne - took us 10½hrs with long queues on the roads leaving the capital.

Unlike rivers in some other cities, the Vltava is the core element of Prague.

Prague was a revelation to me - it was Old Europe set in aspic. A Europe that had developed in isolation from us in the west and, as it had been largely untouched during WWII, there were innumerable examples of ornate baroque architecture - overlaid with some monstrous examples of Mother Russia's brutal ferro-concrete buildings (think NCP car parks) erected during its 40 year tenure of Czechoslovakia.

The city centre was awash with groups of craggy-faced tourists mainly from Middle and Eastern Europe roving to and fro, all trying to follow their own guide through the masses. Each guide was holding up easily seen symbols such as umbrellas, inflatable lips and other imaginative markers. Throughout all this, smaller groups were gliding through silently on Segways..

Here are some photos we took.. (I found the images for the first 01:22 from the internet as the weather was really unsuitable for photos - grey and shadowless for the most part - but we're to blame for the rest!). That's Smetana's "Ma Vlast" in the background.  

While the cobbled streets of Prague were admittedly hard on the feet, I'm not sure I could have submitted my feet to this bizarre Thai foot treatment I saw in several shop windows there:

Some sections of the Czech population appeared to be doing well since independence: the streets were alive with the discreet sound of large 4x4s pattering over the cobbles - Range Rovers, Mercs, BMWs, Audis and there were more than several Porsche Panameras and Aston Martins (Nature's way of telling you that you have too much money!). I spotted one sole surviving Trabant (below) - that stuttering 4 wheeled anachronism that, in case you needed reminding, tells you all you need to know about socialism in practice.   

On one memorable evening, we had a cruise on the fabled Vltava..  

The programme noted that there was a "John Lennon" wall - and I was curious to see what that was all about. Apparently, during the Communist régime, a student had painted a stylised image of John's head on a wall opposite the French Embassy - much to the annoyance of Gustav Husak - and, as can be seen below, it subsequently became the focus for the expression of youth opposition to the Communist régime:

John would have been delighted!

We also saw the place in Wenceslas Square where that modern day martyr Jan Palach doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire on 16th January 1969 in protest against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia 5 months earlier. He succumbed to his 85% burns 3 days later. Was it really 44 years ago..? Did he choose that method of protest to draw a parallel with Jan Hus?

We encountered a group of Asian tourists one day - and I'm afraid I find it just as impossible to tell where they were from (Japan, China, Korea, Viet Nam?) as any group of Caucasians. Anyway, I was having a coffee outside a café near to lunchtime and a family of four sat at the next table. The waitress came and handed them each a menu which they looked at blankly. The menu was written in Czech, German and Russian and there were no photographs of the food to give them a hint. I often wonder what they ended up having for lunch. I found the Czech language completely unpenetrable - and knowledge of any other European languages is of no help whatsoever in trying to decipher it.

We visited Marienbad one day. If you're of a certain age the name will trigger a distant memory of a 60s cult film - "Last Year in Marienbad". I remember watching this at a film society back then and being totally confused and unsure what it was all about. I don't think I was the only one! It's a far cry from this to "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids"!

There was one drink that seemed to be omnipresent and that was Becherovka.. After seeing it all over the country I bought a bottle and I think I'll be saving it for those winter nights. (NB: 7 years later, it's still full apart from one nip taken from it)

So "Na zdravi!"..

While we're talking about drinks, I tried Pilsner Urquell - the beer that the Czech Republic is rightly famous for.. I seldom drink beer but this was one that would hit the spot on a warm day.

Changing the subject a tad, doesn't this look like an exhilarating way of going home from the office after a long day..? I'd love to try that.☺ Stay with it right to the end..

Sunday, 19th May 2013. A couple of days ago we went across the border for a spot of shopping at Dantxarinea in Spain. On the way there I noticed several vultures circling about in lazy circles. The supermarket we visit there - Venta Peio - has had its interior re-modelled and the drinks section has been significantly expanded - it now offers a staggering range (no pun intended) of various alcoholic drinks. I usually browse there while Madame prowls the aisles of the food hall. The whisky section alone is must be 15 yards long and 3-4 shelves high.. They even stock Yamazaki whisky from Japan.. Then there are all sorts of exotic apéritifs from across Europe plus some real rocket fuels. One such is Ströh 80°.. This is a spiced rum from Austria that's 80% alcohol by volume.. One glass would be sufficient to zero-ise your memory banks - a second would be enough to put you into a low earth orbit. Needless to say, these days I leave things like this well alone.

Before returning home, we stopped at nearby Zugarramurdi (still in Spain) where we had a spot of lunch.

Zugarramurdi

Zugarramurdi is a sleepy town of around 225 people, where little has happened in the last 400 years. Prior to that it was an entirely different story. The village was home to a coven of witches and warlocks who carried out pagan rituals in the nearby caves. Then, in 1610, the Spanish Inquisition arrived (unexpectedly!☺) to arrest many villagers - 11 were burned at the stake for crimes ranging from casting spells on crops, people and animals, to shape-shifting and worshipping Satan.

It's easy to see why they chose to hold their rituals in the Witch Caves of Zugarramurdi. They are truly awe-inspiring, the largest being 12m high and 120m across. Now, every year, a festival takes place on the Saturday before San Juan and the summer solstice to mark this history - it's a day known as El Día de la Bruja or "The Day of the Witch".

During the festival, the entire town is transformed to resemble a set from a Harry Potter movie, with local women in tight bodices (steady!☺); medieval games set up in the streets for kids; and a purple tent filled with messenger owls sitting on scraggly perches. Psychics sit at folding tables, ready to sell the future, while naturopaths prepare herbs to cure coughs or break spells. Thousands of people turn up for the festival, mainly from France and Spain, eager to learn about Zugarramurdi's dark past at the Witch Caves and the Witch Museum. The town's centre square hosts presentations on natural remedies and the history of witchcraft, honouring the wisdom of the "witches" - or healers - of yesterday.

The highlight of the event takes place in the main cave at night, when a ceremony depicting the village's diabolical past is presented around a crackling bonfire with 1,000 or so onlookers. It lasts about 30 minutes and might be followed by a live concert - a real treat, due to the cave's acoustics.

There's something going on with the weather here that's started me thinking that perhaps I should be considering building an ark..! I woke up yesterday morning around 7am to find it was raining large as they say - so no rowing. It didn't stop until 12-13 hours later. Through the day we had several surges in intensity of downpour coupled with violent gusts of wind - one of which was sufficient to bring down a tree in the garden. It's raining again now..  and it's not a gentle downpour either - it's the full "car wash" treatment. This is unprecedented - normally, we've been having lunch outside on the terrace for at least a month by now. I think we've eaten outside twice so far this year.

Sunday, 26th May 2013. Today looks like being a dry day at last - with wall-to-wall blue skies. It's still only a non-seasonal 14° though.. On the news last night, they said on the same day last year it was 31°! So still a long way to go.


We went to the Quintaou market at Anglet this morning.. and amid all the mouth-watering sights and smells there was a small café set up in the middle of it all. Seated at a table were two couples enjoying oysters and a bottle of rosé at 10.10am! And two tables away, another couple had just launched into a bottle of rosé. Such is life (for some) in la belle France! (but not, I hasten to add, for your correspondent)

Off to Biarritz now to walk along the sea front with the pooch and contemplate all manner of things over a petit café at the Café Bleu (above) overlooking la Grande Plage.

Monday, 27th May 2013. A few minutes ago I remembered that James Salter's latest novel All That Is is now available on Kindle. I discovered his work just a year or two ago and his novels have been a revelation to me. He has the uncanny ability of being able to distill the absolute essence of a moment, a person or a place with the barest minimum of words. In my opinion, he's the greatest writer in the English language today.

I've been looking forward to immersing myself in this latest - and no doubt, the last - book of his for some time and now that I've just downloaded All That Is, you'll have to talk among yourselves for a while.

Meanwhile, here's the great man himself:

Tuesday, 28th May 2013. Looking at the evening sky from the balcony this evening, I spotted the first two swallows of the year darting about the rooftops. If one swallow doesn't make a summer, what do two make?

Thursday, 30th May 2013. Last night on the France 3 regional news it was revealed that the Pyrénées-Atlantiques has topped the French rainfall charts this year with 100 days of rain out of 149..  And yes, it rained today too.

Friday, 31st May 2013. Another grey day this morning - overnight, gusts of wind rattled the shutters and there was the all-too-familiar sound of rain on the roof. Still raining this morning as well. Doubt I'll be on the river tomorrow. The current weather is on the right..

Thursday, 13th June 2013. Yesterday the temperature shot up to 30°.. but today the rain was back.. In the evening I saw a few more swallows. Still not convinced though!

I was out in the garden in the evening and it sounded as though the natives were getting restless.. From not far away came the rattle of drums as a local group practised for the upcoming Fêtes de Bayonne.