SPAIN

 

Carolyn and Franck returned from Michigan and we headed for our next adventure in Spain.   Through the website, Airbnb, we had rented a two bedroom apartment for a month in Lesaka, Spain, near the French border and in the Pyrenees. Lesaka is NOT an easy place to find and it is one of the few times we got lost following Ernesto's directions.  We kept getting on and off the toll road which was getting expensive!  

We drove down through France approximately seven hours and met our new hosts, Ernesto and Carmen.  The apartment was in a 300-year old house in a small village about 20 km from Irun/Hendaye.  Irun/Hendaye is an interesting town in that the river running through the middle separates the two towns and two countries.  Irun is in Spain, Hendaye is in France.   Our apartment was very large and very comfortable.  I would guess it was about 1,000 sq. ft.  

Our apartment in Lesaka - top floor right

View from the kitchen window

Apt. bldg. in Lesaka with flowers everywhere & commercial on ground level.

View on Jann's walk behind the apt. bldg. in Lesaka.  Gorgeous!

Downtown Lesaka street.  Stores look like houses.

This is the oldest bldg. in Lesaka.

On Jann's morning walk this is what she saw--2 horses on the street.

Ernesto and Carmen are not married and live in different apartments within the house across the hall from each other.  They share the garden and all the animals so it is a very amicable relationship.  Their animals were adorable:  Ernesto had a little kitten and Carmen had a border collie named Pancha, a little Westie and a couple of cats.  I think they shared the responsiblity of the animals.   

Pancha

Carmen's friend Isobel with the little kitten

One night we were there, Ernesto offered to show Jann how to cook some traditional Spanish meals and the first one was a fisherman’s stew.  It was typically made with tuna but he made it with salmon and was traditionally  made and eaten by the fisherman at sea because the ingredients were easy to cook and they had just caught the fish!  It was simple and delicious. 

Jann and Ernesto cooking the fish stew.

Jann, Pat with kitten, Ernesto and Carmen in our kitchen rental in their apt. building.

Jann had bought some chorizo, wanting to taste the local foods but when Ernesto saw it he told her that what she had was for cooking, not for just eating.  So he gave her some of the correct chorizo for just eating.  After a couple of days Jann started experiencing chest pains so we were a little nervous that she was having heart problems.  The pain continued for a few days and we were getting more concerned that we needed to get a medical opinion.  It wasn’t until the chorizo was finished and the pain went away that we put it all together.  We should have learned the lesson from Barcelona.  That will be the last chorizo for Jann !!

Carmen also got involved in teaching Jann about Spanish cooking and one night brought us up a potato omelet, which sounds odd but was delicious.  Glad to say that she taught Jann how to make it. 
 
On one of our last nights there Carmen invited us down to her apartment where she showed Jann how to cook paella.  We met some of their friends and had a wonderful paella dinner.  Jann went shopping for the ingredients with Carmen to Irun and the fish market in Irun was fabulous and inexpensive compared to the one in San Sebastian.

Carmen teaching Jann how to make paella

Carmen says you add one handful of rice per person.

We used monkfish, chicken, clams and shrimp.

You add what takes the least amount of time to cook last.

Anxiously awaiting the final results of the paella

Final presentation - does that look good or what !!

We held on to the car we had rented in Brittany and really explored the countryside, from the Pyrenees, to San Sebastian, to Biarritz, to the wine area and even the historical areas of Spain.  

Driving through the Pyrenees

View of the road through the Pyrennes from Lesaka to France.

Pyrenees views

One of our first day trips was to San Sebastian.  We went straight to the beach and walked from there to old town.  We walked around the narrow streets and signed up for a walking tour with tapas tasting in the various small bars.  Their tapas tasting tour is a little like a pub crawl in the UK.  You go from one small bar to another and they all have the most amazing range of tapas spread out on the bar (all basically bite size or a little bigger.)   You choose the tapas you want, order a small beer or wine (2 ozs so you don’t get too wasted) and then move on to the next bar.  They give you a little napkin which you are supposed to throw on the floor when you are finished.  Even with all the discarded napkins on the floor it was really hard to just throw ours on the floor with all we have been taught about littering – but we did (when in Spain…..)  There was an amazing range of delicious tapas available and we learned a lot about the culture and history of San Sebastian.  Our guide showed us one of the gastronomic clubs, of which there are many,  in old town.   They are 'membership only' clubs that provide a location with a large dining area and a kitchen.  Each member can use the facilities to prepare and host a gourmet dinner for friends but the staff cleans up after them.  Its a little like an exclusive golf club because you have to be invited to join by other members but for foodies it is a great idea. 

San Sebastian Beach, La Concha

La Concha Beach, San Sebastian with the tide in.

Main Street, San Sebastian

Jann in the park alongside the beach

San Sebastian old town street

Queen Victoria bridge in San Sebastian.

Fishermen's houses in San Sebastian by Old Town & marina area.

Constitution Square in San Sebastian.  We ate here.

The Coat of Arms for the City of San Sebastian above Constitution Square.

San Sebastian cathedral in old town

Tapas bar

Choice of tapas

What Jann ate--salt fish cod tapas.

What Jann ate--octopus tapas.

What Patricia ate--leek and spinach quiche.

The markets and supermarkets were full of different meats, fish and produce.  Their hams are displayed hanging from the ceilings and you would need a large family to do justice to the amount of ham you get in one of those legs.  In some markets wine can be bought by filling your own container from barrels on the wall.  You just turn on the faucet on the barrel and fill your bottle.  Probably not the best wine but very efficient.

Fish market

Who can eat all that ham !!

Squid.

Monkfish!

Jaws!

Bring your own container

The scenery in the Pyrenees was beautiful and we spent quite a few days exploring the countryside.  There were a lot of places where we had a view from Spain up the coast to Hendaye and St. Jean de Luz in France.  On one trip at an old border crossing Jann was able to put one foot in Spain and the other in France.  

Jann enjoying the view of France from Spain

Pyrenees through the ruins

View from the ruins on the hill

Looking at Irun, Spain/Hendaye and St. Jean de Luz in France

Pat enjoying the views

One foot in France, one foot in Spain

We took a day trip to Biarritz which was the old stomping grounds for the rich and famous on the coast of France.  Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon, built a palace there which is now the Empress Hotel and very impressive.  The beach was beautiful and large but too crowded.  Normally there are 25 thousand residents of Biarritz but during the summer the tourists inflate the population to over 100k.   This is too much for this small town and when we were there it was just too crowded.  The beach was packed, cars clogged the streets and crowds were everywhere.  Of course we had to pay a visit to the casino but in France it is only slot machines during the day and table games don’t start until around 9pm at night.  On our way out of Biarritz we stopped a a chocolate factory – they are known for very good chocolate so of course we had to sample.  It is a beautiful place but not equipped to handle the onslaught of tourists that flock there.

Jann enjoying Biarritz Beach

Empress Eugenie's palace, now a hotel.

Artist at work on Biarritz beach

N for Napoleon and E for Eugenie hedges

Biarritz Beach with the casino in the foreground

Chocolate factory

Pat celebrated her birthday in Spain so we went to San Sebastian for a tapas lunch and to Hendaye, France for the casino in the evening.  It is definitely a plus being in that area that you can experience two different countries, two cultures in one day. 

In San Sebastian, we went up on the old funicular at the edge of the beach to the top of the mountain.  The views from the top over San Sebastian were fantastic but the interesting feature on the top of the mountain was a small canal that went around the edge of the mountain with a current driven by a water wheel.  We got into the small boats that were powered around the mountain by the current and had a great ride.

Funicular, San Sebastian

View from the little boat going around the hill

Boat ride powered by water wheel

On another of our exploratory trips we visited the wine region Getaria which was right on the coast.  Unfortunately, in order to taste the wine you had to make appointments so we just enjoyed driving around the area and looking at the views.

Views of the Getaria wine region from the top of the hill

View of the Getaria Wine Region and one of the most beautiful regions I have ever seen!

Zaruthz Beach.

The area we were staying in was actually in the Basque region of Spain.  There is a faction within Spain called Basque separatists who are fighting for their own identity.  Unknown to us prior to getting there, the last terrorist arrested for setting bombs on behalf of the Basque separatists came from Lesaka, exactly where we were staying.  At least five times our car was pulled over for security checkpoints – which consisted of at least half a dozen soldiers with automatic weapons at the ready.  And, if you decided to make a run for it there was another soldier at the end with a carpet of spikes that would be thrown under your tires and make getaway very bumpy !!   Apart from the Basque fanatics, the local Basques are very proud of their history and culture.  All the local towns have two names, the Spanish name and the Basque name.  This can be very confusing when you are looking for a particular town on a map and it is marked something else on the directional signs.  San Sebastian for example is called Donastia in the Basque language and at first we didn’t realize that they were one and the same.  So we thought we were lost.  Eventually though we caught on and it made getting around a lot easier.  The Basque region and the Catalonia regions of Spain are the most affluent.

We toured a lot of the area, visiting small Pyrenees towns and markets and had some incredibly scenic drives.  Carmen also took us on some of the walks through the mountains with the dogs so we got to really see the countryside as the locals do.

Ancient city on the hill

Jann inside the old walled city on the hill

View of the countryside

Jann and Carmen walking in the Pyrenees

Cocktails in Hendaye, France

Pyrenees village

Chilis for sale

Structure for the animals during the winter

Pyrenees lake

As we were getting closer to leaving, Ernesto and Carmen took us on a couple of tours of the area and one place they took us was a witches cave that used to be the home of a coven that was finally rounded up and tried by the Spanish Inquisition.   It was easy to imagine a whole community living in the cave which was very large.

Jann, Carmen and Ernesto

Carmen and Ernesto on the way down to the witches cave

Entrance to witches cave

Carmen and Ernesto took us to the train station in Hendaye for our train to Bordeaux.  We were so lucky to have met them and got to know them.  You could not find two more generous and hospitable people anywhere.  We have been very lucky on this adventure to meet some really nice people who have become friends, even in such a short period of time. 

We had an emotional farewell but in the words of Arnold…."We will be back."