Basque Epiblog

 1

This was our first GRJ holiday but it was to an area that we already knew from our motor homing days. It was very well organised and had an excellent tour manager. We enjoyed the combination of free days and organised trips. Hondarribia is a lovely town on the France/Spanish border, or as the locals would prefer, in the middle of the Basque country. Its mix of old medieval town, a seaside location and foodie vibe, close to San Sebastian and Biaritz makes it an ideal sightseeing  holiday location.  The Jauregui hotel was perfectly placed between the pedestrianised street of tapas/pinchos bars and the old harbour, where the regular ferry goes to Hendaya in France. It did not have a pool, spa or lounge but the tables and chairs outside were ideal for people watching and taking a drink out from from the bar. The group dinners provided plentiful food and wine and an opportunity to make friends. The food was not gourmet, except the panacota, but varied and adequate given that 38 people were being served.

The weather was unrelentingly sunny and hot, in fact it was 10 deg too hot, but it did not stop us doing our thing. The group trip destinations of San Sebastian, Bilbao and La Rhune mountain railway gave us some free time were well chosen.

The rail travel was well organised and the problems in Paris with Eurostar delays  could not be blamed on GRJ. Would we do another GRJ holiday? Yes, but it would be hard to find a better itinerary for us.

 

Nightmare in Paris

 It's a long day today. We leave hotel at 8:30, short coach to Hendaye, 5 hours  on the TGV to Paris, 1 hour coach between Stations, 2hrs on Eurostar and 1 hour to Leicester, then 10mins to Narborough to arrive home around 9pm.

Well that was the plan but it didnt quite work out.

It started well with the bus ride to Hendaye, the TGV to Paris was comfortable, smooth and on time. Even the coach across Paris from Montparnasse to Gare du Nord was OK and we enjoyed the drive along some of the boulevards to the station.

Then we discovered that some Eurostars and been cancelled and delayed and the terminal was rammed with people and at 36 deg unbearably hot. The queues were corralled all over the concourse for health and safety reasons and we were standing in a slow moving queue for about an hour before we could check in. Exhausting. Fortunately our train was only delayed, by a broken down train near London apparently, so once aboard we had a smooth ride to St Pancras and no delays through customs.

Then our train back to Leicester was also delayed and rammed, so when we pulled in to the station the connection to Narborough was just pulling out! 

The last leg home was a £25 taxi instead of a lift from Katherine and we finally made it exhausted! But we were lucky, our case is still in Spain and not due home until next Tuesday.

What a journey - 2 coaches, 3 trains, a taxi and 950 miles in 13 hours. Epic!

Bilbao and Guggenheim

Our last organised outing took us to Bilbao and the Guggenheim museum of modern art. The coach initially dropped us by a bridge over the river to allow us to walk into the old town. We did an audio guided tour of the cathedral and grabbed a couple of tapas in the market and some coffees in a bar before meeting up again to be dropped off at the museum. The most impresssive aspect for me is the building itself all stainless steel and glass. The art works are all massive and approachable, but not too close or you(we) get a bebuke from the security guards. We had 2 hrs to take in the art.

We gathered by the cafe for a cool drink before heading along the Ap8 motorway passing San Sebastion to Hondarrebia for packing and our last dinner together. 

Trevor Grove, an ex editor of the Sunday Telegragh and Evening Standard, thanked our tour Manager David Cotterill after dinner for his excellent organisation and good humour. He returned the gesture by commending us for being the biggest and best tour group he had managed. Every body agreed and the WhatsApp group was full of positivity and photos. 

We finished packing our case ready for it to be picked up by First Luggage and returned to UK, we hope!

58 and counting

It's freetime today in Hondarribia and also our wedding anniversary so a day to just relax and mooch around town.

We wandered up to the old medieval town after a late breakfast, where we encountered a lot more of our party doing the same thing. Coffee in a little back street bar and candle lighting in the cathedral before finding a tapas bar that was open for a cool beer.

Tonight we went to the best seafood restaurant we could find for scallops, hake and monkfish with a bottle of sauvignon blanc to wash it down.

St Jean and la Rhune

Today we went to St Jean de Luz on the way to a vintage mountain railway. We were in the attractive French seaside town for a couple of hours taking in the sights of the Grande Plage (beach) and witnessed some the Pentecostal celebrations which were very Basque. Horses and Spanish style costumes were much in evidence and a statue of the Virgin Mary was paraded through the town. We had a coffee break in a nice hotel and a quick tapas break in the square before rejoining the coach to Col des Ingles for the train. A cycle race caused a 30 mins diversion.

The petite train de la Rhune is a cog train and takes a very steep ascent up La Rhune mountan to 900m in about 30mins. Quite spectacular but noisy and not very comfortable. It was still 27deg at the summit. We had an hour to take in the panoramic views of the bay of Biscay from Hendaye and Hondarribia towards Bayonne and have a cold drink. The cafes and bars at the summit gave welcome relief from the heat.

Dinner was in the hotel again and the wine was flowing freely as usual.

Hendaye is in France

We are going on the passenger ferry to France today, it only takes 5 mins. On the way we popped into the church just across the road and heard a choir singing from the sound system. We assumed it was a recording until it suddenly stopped and we were surprised to see it was a real live choir rehearsing on the gallery above our heads. Maybe they are part of the song and dance festival this weekend.

When we arrived in Hendaye just across the river we found the Saturday market of regional foods and goods in full swing around the marina. Rosemary enjoyed browsing around but we did not find anything to take home.

I walked over the hot sand for a quick paddle in the sea of the Bay of Biscay while Rosemary sheltered from the blazing sun. Picked up a couple of little shells for the rock garden back home and retreated to a bar for some cool beers.

We managed to miss the return ferry twice, but it is every 30 mins and eventually when we did catch it we were the only passengers. Private ferry to Spain - tick.

The music has kicked off again this evening and there are loud explosions from somewhere. Off the investigate.

The explosions were fire crackers being let off by the local football supporters celebrating their teams return to the first division. All very good natured and accompanied by choruses of Sweet Caroline.

San Sebastian

We all went by coach to San Sebastian today via the mountain road which provides the backdrop to this part of the coast. It's gives a panoramic view of the coast and is also on the Camino de Santiago. We chatted to a couple of pilgrims before we descended into San Seb. We had a rather tedious guided tour of the town, it was too hot and she didn't stop talking. We spotted a good tapas bar in the old town to go back to and were not disappointed. The gazpacho with smoked sardines, cucumber and basil ice-cream was outstanding.

We caught the coach back and had a group dinner on the hotel. There was a local folk dance festival in the pedestrian area behind the hotel tonight.

Hondarribia day of rest

Hondarribia is a lovely Basque town on the border between France and Spain. Our first day here in the Jaurigui Hotel was a free day to recover from a full day of travelling and get acquainted with the town. We walked up to the medieval old town in the morning which is lovely and had an excellent meal of scallops and calamari in the Gran Sol tapas restaurant in the evening.

Eurostar and TVR to Hondarribia

We joined our group of 39 GRJ travellers and successfully passed the new EU entry system to take the 8:01 Eurostar to Paris then an hour coach transfer around the periphique to the TVR terminal at Gare Montparnasse. 

The train was very full and we were crammed into 2nd Class coach 17. Not quite the pleasant 3 HR journey we were expecting to Dax. The final part of the journey was another 1 hour luxury coach ride passing St Jean de Luz. We actually did this bit of motorway 21 years ago in our motorhome on the way to Playa Joel for our first holiday on the north coast of Spain.

London overnighting

We are on our way to the Basque country by rail and need to meet our party at St Pancras at 6:00am so an overnight stay is essential.

We traveled via Foxconnect to Narborough and BR to London and stayed in Fairway Hotel just across Euston Road and only 5 mins walk from GRJ office by the Eurostar terminal.

We spent the evening in the nearby Coal Drop Yard area which is full of restaurants and designer shops. It was once a large gas works before being redeveloped as a trendy business (Google office here) and leisure destination. We had some food in a young people's market style bar and an early night.