My favourite day in the Basque Country

My favourite day in the Basque Country so far was a Sunday a couple of weeks ago when I went with my flatmates and a friend to Fontarrabie, a town just across the border in Spain. We parked a little outside the town and walked along the coast where there is a great walking trail. It was a really sunny day and we had amazing views of the sea all the way along. The path was very up and down so each time we emerged from a dip we were rewarded with a new view of the coastline. We walked along for 2-3 hours before stopping to eat lunch on the rocks by the water. We then headed back again the way we had come.

It was cool to visit the Spanish Basque Country and see how different it is to the French side. For one thing it was a lot more "Basque" - many people on the path greeted us in Basque which I haven't experienced at all in France where French is generally the default language. It was a bit confusing actually because each person we met would greet us differently - a mixture of Spanish, Basque and French.

Even though Fontarrabie is just down the coast, the sea had a very different feel to it - much calmer than in Biarritz. After our walk we went to visit the town which has a really nice beach and a very picturesque centre. The buildings are in the traditional Basque style - white with coloured beams. The buildings are usually white and red in the Basque Country but there is a mixture of colours in Fontarrabie - red, green and blue. The main street has lots of restaurants on it and it was very lively with plenty of people sitting out enjoying the sunshine.

We were back in Bayonne by about 5pm and headed down to the beach to watch the sunset and eat an ice-cream. The perfect end to a wonderful day!