I went to Basque. #6

   On Oct. 23rd.
   We had fine weather at Hondarribia. We walked down the slope of the front side of the hotel. On the way to our bus, we saw The Town Hall, The Santa Maria Gate, and so on. When I saw a statue, I found he had a saw and an apron (See the slide show at 0:46). They say he’s a soldier, and I wondered why he had such things. The truth is he is an engineer. I heard people perform his role in the festival.

   This day, we were going to the summit of La Rhune by Le Petit Train. The line opened on 1924. It is a single truck and has rack rails. From the train, I saw pottoks which are a kind of small horses like ponies. At the summit, we had fine weather again, so, I was able to see the broad panorama of French and Spanish parts of Basque.

   When I waited a return train, an old lady asked me in French where I had bought my hat. I don’t know French, she doesn’t know Japanese nor English. But, we understood each other, a fantastic world!! (^o^)

   We visited Sare, where I saw a beautiful small village, and we had lunch at ITHURRIA, dishes were good, especially Basque pig I liked very much. After lunch, Espelette, where I bought two bags of famous Piment d’Espelette powder, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where I saw the birthplace of Ravel, Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Jean-de-Luz, etc. I was wandering the streets of Saint-Jean-de-Luz with a map, an old lady approached and told me which way to go. She spoke French only again. But we understood each other again, a fantastic world!!×2 (^o^)(^o^)

   After entering French Basque across the border, I saw a house has white walls and red rims. I heard it’s a traditional style here, and in the past, people used lime paste for white and cattle blood for red to avoid strong beaming sun and insects.

   By the way, the local guide of the day was Anna again. I asked her what I questioned.
   Does they have the law like Japanese “Motor Vehicle Inspection and Registration System“? Because all the cars I saw in Basque Country (Spanish Basque) are very good condition. I sometimes saw quite a number of junkers outside of Japan. She answered they have to register a car they own, after four years they own the car they have to get the first car inspection, after six years they own the car the have to get the second inspection, and after that, they have to get the car inspection every year. Her answer made sense to me.

   The hotel of the day was Hôtel du Palais at Biarritz. Very good hotel.

   To be continued. (^_~)