Basque France

Day 32 Friday 5 June 2026

After 10 days in Spain we say ‘adios’ and make our way back into France via Sare. We explored a few village in the french basque area. The basque people especially in Spain have a very strong affiliation with their heritage, even to the point that we didn’t see a Spanish flag but only basque one. Even in France many bilingual signs have had the french crossed out.

After our morning coffee we had a stroll around the small village, Berastegi, where we had stayed the night.

Having had our fill of backroads we chose to take the freeway most of the way into France. As our destination was the small basque villages in the hinterland, we did eventually end up back on the smaller country roads.

Our first stop was in Sare, labelled as one of the Most Beautiful Villages of France. Due to its proximity to Spain, 36km from the border, it was a prime spot for smuggling. 

After enjoying a yummy breakfast, we went to walk it off exploring the village and its traditional architecture, with shutters painted in the red and green of the Basque flag.

Other delectables

Further on was the charming and touristy village of Espelette, famously known for its chilli pepper. After the harvest at the end of summer the houses are strung with strings of the ‘piments’ to dry and the effect is wonderfully colourful.

We stroll around and have tastings of the local products.. chilli pastes and jams, chocolate with chilli, a chilli liquor aswell as the local basque cake.

We ended the day in la Bastide Clairence parking close to the village.

During the 13th century there was a need for commercial access to the sea. At the begining, it was a kind of port on the banks of the River Joyeuse, which then flows into the Adour and the Atlantic Ocean. The village is one of the bastides founded by the lords for the primary function to enhance the security for the local population. The village is very diverse with half-timbered Labourdine style houses, painted in red or green and Navarre style houses in which stone predominates, along with the traditional basque style buildings.

The church had a lovely painted alter along with  3 levels of platforms like previously seen in Sare.

At the tourist office we asked why the burial plots were surrounding the church under a covered veranda. The lady explained that it was common for small villages but as the population grew they had to start a cemetery. 

Later we went back to have a drink and plate to share before the local basque dancers did a performance.

119km today

Azpeitia Spain

Day 31 Thursday 4 June 2026

How the weather can change and affect your experiences and decisions for the day. The rain rolled in overnight which resulted in our destination turning inland. We had also travelled along the coast twice before.

We drove about an hour on windy roads up to a pass and down again until we reached Bergara. Our book tells us it is full of character with distinguished  colleges, churches and mansions. Unfortunately parking was a bit tricky and the rain was falling, so we just had our breakfast and kept going….

More windy roads and another mountain pass (although not high in altitude). 

We had lots of pretty countryside as we descended into the next valley to Azpeitia.

Our stop here was at the Loiola Sanctuary where St Ignatius (1491-1556) the founder of the Jesuit order was born. 

Donning our raincoats and umbrellas we made our way to the Basilica. Built in the Baroque style in 1738 in honour of St Ignatius. We were wowed by the beautiful pink marbled dome ceiling.

We then paid €3.50 pp to visit the Santa Casa (Holy House), the original home of the Loyola family around which the Sanctuary was built. Here we learnt about his life going from knight to pilgrim and the start of the Jesuit order.

We managed to find a parking spot closer to the old quarter and as the rain had ceased we took the opportunity to go for a walk. 

The bull ring.. 1st one we have seen this time

Looks like the equivalent of the Edinburgh Tattoo..

Guess what… it wasn’t open 

Interesting wash house 

We were hoping for a bar with some atmosphere to have a bite to eat but nothing took our fancy, so we returned to Bluey and picked an aire that had some good comments on park4night and headed there. It was another 1 hour of yet again windy backroads to the small village of Berastegi. 

We settled in with a couple other motorhomes, had an early dinner and watched the rain drops run down Blueys windscreen..

All in all it was a fairly good wet weather day but it certainly felt more than the 104km we actually did today.