Want to travel in France ? Don't go to Paris, go there instead

sayasix (26)in #basque • 7 years ago (edited)

Bayonne is my hometown. This is where I was born, raised and lived all my life, I use to travel a lot but this is where I always come back.

Located about 1 mile from the Atlantic Ocean coast, Bayonne is part of an area called Basque Country, which extends from France to Spain on about 7700 square miles. I’m gonna talk here about the French side of the Basque Country, which is smaller than the Spanish side, but I want to show you some wonders you can find in France.

The life in Basque country is peaceful. There is almost everything you need to enjoy life and chill. It goes from the beaches, to the towns and villages, to hiking in the mountains.

The Basque Country has a really special and interesting culture on its own. It has its own language which is the Basque language, a very unusual language that no linguist was able to find where it comes from. Which is even more weird is the fact that some words are similar to the Japanese language.

This is the Basque flag, that you can see in a lot of places and products.

Basque Country has a lot to offer, one of the best things there aside the landscapes is the food. Of course in France in general you can eat delightful meals. In Basque Country, a lot of food comes from there, there are a lot of farmers that raise animals or good fruits and vegetables. You can easily find farmers markets that send their products for a cheap price. There is also the traditional sheep cheese, that if you want to eat like a real basque person you need to spread black jelly marmelade on it like it was a cracker. Trust me this is heaven !

So now, let me present you this country and let's start with Bayonne.

Daniel Villafruela [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Some people would find a ressemblance with Venice, the river you can see is called La Nive and crosses some villages of the Basque Country to end up in Bayonne.

Here is the port of Bayonne.

Bayonne is a small town, you can walk in its small streets and have fun getting lost and find some if its treasures. It was built inside the battlements a long time ago, and you still can see them around the city. The magnificent Sainte Marie Cathedral in the middle of the city is worth the detour.

By No machine-readable author provided. Manuel González Olaechea assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Bayonne is also the city of chocolate. You can find there chocolate factories and stores all around the city. Bayonne is also famous for its Ferias, which is a sort of 5 days long "party" inside the city that brings over more than 1 million people each year. As in most countries in Europe, public drinking is legal, so the party takes place in the streets of Bayonne where everyone is dressed with the traditional colors white and red.

Here are some typical pictures of the Ferias and one of the traditional bars in the oldest part of the city, where locals use to gather from Thurday to Saturday night every week. It's really common and I would say part of the culture to meet your friends and have a drink in the different bars that the city offers.

Now let's go to Biarritz, which is the nearest ocean view city from Bayonne. Biarritz is a really nice place to hang out and enjoy the sunset. Life is more expensive than in Bayonne and I would say is less traditionnal, but there are a lot of nice areas and things to do.

It's really famous for its surf spots, lots of surfers from around the world come there, and every year there is a competition.

There are other wonderful ocean view cities, like for example Hendaye here :

Or Socoa here, closer from the Spain border:

Let's go more inside the lands of the Basque Country and meet Espelette, a famous village known for its Piment d'Espelette, or Espelette pepper. The traditional houses are covered with the peppers, part of the process before being eaten or for decoration. Here you can see the typical Basque houses, painted in white with red shutters:

The Basque Country has a lot of mountains and fields, so if you like hiking and outdoor sports you will find everything you're looking for. There is a lot to do: hiking, dirt biking, rafting, kayaking, paragliding, horse riding... The list is long.

There are a lot of rugby fans, the rugby community is important and takes a huge place in the cities.

The local sport there is called Pelote Basque, it's a sport you play with a kind of bat or barehand on the typical wall called Fronton, that you find in every village of the Basque Country.

By No machine-readable author provided. Harrieta171 assumed (based on copyright claims). [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons