o6asan's soliloquy.

   On Oct. 24th.

   The previous day, when I arrived at the hotel in Biarritz, I felt to come here by a tour bus was a wrong way. A very good hotel this was and a very narrow gate it had. Probably, it is Japanese only who use a tour bus to come here and who stay here for a day or two – very short. But, it is Japanese style tour. They had to have accepted it, whether they will or won’t.

   The day, first, we visited a factory of L’Atelier du chocolat in Bayonne. We tasted various kinds of chocolates. Unfortunately, we were unable to see a lot of real process of making chocolates except cleaning and an employee who was covered in chocolate powder. I bought chocolates for gifts. When I tasted pepper chocolate, I liked it and thought to get it for one of gifts, in fact, what I bought was pepper caramel, oops!!

   After this, we headed to Musée Basque by bus, and, walked to Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne on the opposite bank of the river Nive. It is a magnificent, but somehow a patched building, the upper is made of limestone and the lower is made of sandstone.

   When I stayed in my room in the afternoon, a maid came for the turn down service. She perhaps had rung my doorbell a few times, but, I didn’t hear it clearly because of being at my bathroom. So, I did not answer her and the maid unlocked my door by her key in spite of my locking. Probably, she thought my room was empty as my door did not have the “Don’t disturb” card. When I saw her, I was so surprised because I didn’t know about the service. After I heard from my tour conductor this hotel had this as one of basic services. The previous day, we checked into the hotel late, so, the service had been done. This was my first stay at a 5 star hotel, therefore I had such a my first experience. (^_^;)

   We had the last meal of Basque at a small restaurant L’Atelier. I felt their dishes were a kind of nouvelle cuisine.

   The next day, we were going to leave Basque for Japan.

   To be continued. (^_~)

   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. (^_~)

   On Oct. 22nd.
   That morning, I felt I was a complete new person, he-he. Before leaving from San Sebastián, I walked around and took some pictures.

   We were going to visit a Txakoli winery “Talai-Berri” at Zarautz on that very day. I was looking forward to it.

   I have to admit I don’t like fizzy drink, both alcohol and non-alcohol. But, the previous day, when I had a glass of Txakoli, it was sparkling slightly and dry, so, I liked it. I also saw the performance that was the serving Txakoli from high place for mixing air.

   At the Talai-Berri winery, we were tasting all kind of products. They were very good and not expensive. The staff, who was one of owners and introduced their products to us, said “current Txakoli is very well controlled when it is produced, so, it isn’t necessary serving from high place”. Well, I thought “the yesterday performance is for tourists”.

   By the way, in Spain they use olive oil for all foods, like we use shōyu(醬油) for all. It was my very first time, to eat cheese poured olive oil, to eat bread poured olive oil, and so on.

   We had lunch at Getaria, another one of old cities in Basque, Spain. One of dishes we ate is a big flounder. It was broiled with salt. Very big. A fish per two people. I think it is for four people if I were in Japan.

   We checked into the hotel “Parador de Hondarribia” around 4 p.m. The hotel is located on the hill and has a long slope in front of itself. Opposite side is a kind of cliff and there is a public elevator which carries people up.

   During this trip, I went for a walk alone in the evening free-time for the first time. I found and bought a doll is a regatta player in Hondarribia (See the slide show at 6:15). Is it cute? They say Regatta is very popular in Spain. In Hondarribia, the house of the player has a green banner on the balcony’s rail. On 2012 the team finished second and people bit their lips, I heard.

   To be continued. (^_~)

   On Oct. 21st.
   I was surprised it’s still dark even if 8 a.m. Judging calmly, San Sebastián is located north slightly than Sapporo (札幌) according to their latitude, besides, Spain uses DST until the end of October. So, it might be natural.

   Unfortunately, 21st was Sunday. City market and most stores were closed except ones for tourists. But, we met other events precisely because Sunday. For example, a citizens’ marathon, men at a gastronomical society for preparing a party.

   And then, I felt better, went and ate pintxos at bars in my free-time, and enjoyed Txakoli wine and others at meals. So, my trip was also better and better. The better trip, the more photos. So, this slide show is longer than before, too. He-he!

   To be continued. (^_~)

   Now on Oct. 20th.
   We did sightseeing in the old part of Pamplona which is very famous for “The fiesta of San Fermín“, about which even if you don’t know, probably you have ever seen the photos of the bull run. We walked the route of the bull run.

   Pamplona is one of old cities in Basque, and its old part has the thick and tall walls around itself. One of funny and pity impression I had is I found a built-in candlestick with the wall of an arsenals. A soldier in charge prayed before his entering, in the building there were a lot of gunpowder things, but in those days, he should have had a candle with him because they didn’t know safety lamp. Very poor man!!

   Pamplona is also famous for the city of Hemingway loved. I saw Cafe IRUNA, Gran Hotel La Perla, etc.

   During our sightseeing, all raining. I heard Pamplona usually has a lot of rain. In the rain, I thought a lot of people who live in the city put up their umbrellas. Outside of Japan, I’ve not ever seen people like this who have an umbrella when it’s raining. Besides, some people have a compact folding umbrella and it is first time for me to see a good number of people have such an umbrella outside of Japan. “Seeing is believing.” I believe Pamplona usually has a lot of rain. (^_^)

   I felt better on the day, but in fact, I think I was still tired because I failed to take a lot of photos. Besides, I had no memory about the afternoon on the bus. (;_;)

   To be continued. (^_~)

   On Oct.19, I got up at 7:00a.m. Of course, it’s local time in Spain. We left the hotel at 9:00. Again, we had rain like Japanese rainy season. First, our tour bus stopped over Durango, Biscay. We did sightseeing in the old area of the city, we saw “Iglesia de Santa María de Uribarri”, “Kurutziaga Cross”, etc.

   We had lunch at a tiny good restaurant “Akebaso“. Two dogs were there, so cute.

   After lunch, we visited a cheese factory in Idiazábal. Others bought a lot of cheese and I also did a block of it. The cheese was very very tasty.

   The hotel of the day was in Pamplona. I was still tired when I checked into it. So I went to bed earlier than usual and slept all night.

   To be continued. (^_~)

   At 4a.m. on Oct.17 JST, I got up. I left my house at 4:25a.m. and drove to Fukuoka Airport. I arrived at the parking lot around 5:40. About 70 minutes. It was very short time because it was early morning. I got a takeoff from the Narita at 12:15.

   When I arrived at my hotel in Bilbao, Spain, it was almost the end of the day. I faced the time difference, so it took about 26 hours since I had got up. This included about 6hours as connecting flights time. Very very tired.

   The next morning, I got up at 7:30 because of the tour schedule though I wanted to sleep more and more. My travel agency usually does not plan a hard schedule. But the schedule of the day was very hard for me. At that time, I regretted taking the tour a little bit.

   By the way, I made a slide show. Please take a look. It has no sound. And you can never find me on it. (^^;)

   The dinner of the day was so late and so heavy though it just stuck to schedule. I was really tired again.

   To be continued. (^_~)