The last story ended in Herm, France. From there I took the road to Hondaribbia, just past the border with Spain. In fact, it is Basque country, and the Basque people are very proud of it, as you may see in one of the pictures. I had made an appointment at a camping car garage very near Herm, for a check of the oil level and the tyre pressure, and to have the outside holder of my electricity cable repaired, because that was a quick, easy thing to do. The people there were so very, very kind and service-minded, it made me smile all day.
Mrs Google warned me for forest fires that might alter the itinerary, but this did not happen and soon enough I was at the camp site of Hondaribbia. My former colleague from Oxfam, Rosario (I met her in Chad and in Central Africa Republic) came to fetch me and to show me around in her village. Apart from the many years she worked in the humanitarian, she has lived all her life in this village, and when you walk there with her, many people stop to say hello and chat a bit. In the Calle Mayor in the old city we went to see the marionet puppet workshop (by the name of Menina), of her friend Idoia Seijo. What a lovely, and creative lady, and what a beautiful old craft. We had lunch at Rosario’s house, and then we went for another walk to the Faro (the Lighthouse), passing through the area where the old port and beaches had been where she used to swim as a young girl. There still is a port and beaches but over the years it all has changed tremendously.
From there I drove to the Gran Camping de Zarautz in Zarautz, on top of a hill overlooking the bay, and on the other side of the hill overlooking vinyards. A nice village, with a lively promenade along the beach, with many cafés and restaurants. I cycled up and down the coastline to visit some of the other villages. The vibe in Spain was quite different from France, very lively, people talk a lot and in a sort of staccato way, which is one of the reasons it makes the vibe lively, I guess. And, of course, the fact that the holiday season had started. On Sunday 3 July I was walking on the Musika Plaza in Zarautz when indeed in the bandstand people started to play traditional Basque music and many people in the square danced the various traditional dances. Not as a group, in costumes, but just people being there and knowing these dances. Great to watch!! Had I known these dances I would have joined!! The other villages on that coast were a bit boring. On one of these days I took the bus to Bilbao where I walked to the Guggenheim Museum (contemporary art), which, as I had expected, I loved very much. The building is from 1997, designed by Frank Gehry, and is so interesting. The art collection is also very good. Visiting the museum was the idea behind coming to Basque country! Sooooo: mission completed…… Actually, one of the major installations was the work of Richard Serra (The Matter Of Time), and it is nice to know that a similar type of work (smaller though) called ‘Open-Ended’ can be found in the lovely Museum Voorlinden in the Netherlands!
After a night with heavy rains, lightning and thunder in Zarautz I moved to Gorliz, to a totally different campsite, no separations, you just put your van or tent or caravan where you want, which made it all less organized and more fun. The place a bit old-fashioned, including the sanitary blocks, but I liked that. It is nicely situated in the bay, with beaches and ports, and plenty of nice cafés and restaurants. In the bay, in parallell to the beach, there is an ancient TB sanatorium, built in 1919 to treat children with bone TB. A beautiful location, chosen for the clean air (at the time at least). Today it is a centre for rehabilitation and palliative care. The building is like the camp site, a bit old fashioned, but interesting. One of the pictures below shows the sanatorium on a mural. Next to this sanatorium was a small café where I went for a coffee after yoga on the beach! It was also really nice to walk on the long promenade from the end of the bay where the sanatorium was to the other end, the village of Plentzia. I actually went a second time to Bibao, there was a bus stop next to the camp site, taking you to a Metro station in Plentzia, where the line into the old city of Bilbao starts. I just explored the old city, which was a nice addition to visiting the Museum the other day!
Initially I had wanted to explore this coast much more but when I realized that I also had to drive back every kilometer I would venture into this region, I changed the plan into going back to France and hang around in the Southern part a bit more. I drove back to Herm and spent another night at the ‘natural’ camp site in Herm. Since now we were in July the little outdoor bar was open in the evenings and you could enjoy a very healthy and tasty meal cooked by the owner Constance, with vegetables from her own garden. I had a meal there and ended up chatting to a lady living in the village of Herm but who came just to eat at Constance’s little restaurant, and a friend of hers from Normandy. Very friendly ladies. From Herm I drove to Cier de Luchon, near Luchon in the Pyrenees, to visit another former colleague, Isabelle. I had met her in Chad. It was really lovely. We went around by bicycle to see some of the surroundings, we had a nice family meal, and the next morning she showed me the small city of Luchon, which used to be a well-known ski resort as well as spa resort, visited by the rich and famous. These days it is mostly visited by the not-so-rich-and-famous but the city council has plans to (try and) restore it to its old glory. From Cier de Luchon I drove to Campsas near Toulouse, where I stayed at a small and very enjoyable small campsite from which I could make a long bike ride along the canal de Montech. I did this in the early morning as that day the temperature would rise to 39°C. On 15 July I drove to Le Passage (near Agen) where I am staying until 26 July, the day I will start my (short) return journey. I spent the days in Le Passage helping to prepare an evening of cultural exchange with artists from France and Chad, which takes place on Saturday 23 July, in the garden of the house in Le Passage. It is an initiative of my friend Yaya Sarria (from Chad) and Corinne Rozé, the chairwoman of the association ArtCord, which is promoting support to solidarity programmes in countries in Africa, sofar in Togo and Chad. The promotion is done through cultural activities. And when I have time I go for bike rides, along the canal La Garonne, (parallel to the river la Garonne), or visiting nice villages in the neighbourhood, such as the medieval village of Moirax.
Next time I will tell you about the cultural exchange on Saturday 23 July. In the meantime stay cool!!!
