Group Only

We love this area because of its diversity: the ancient Pyrénées mountains, the rugged Atlantic coast well-known to the surfers around the world, the mild climate and the Spanish influence from the southern side of Basque country. It is close to Bordeaux but so different in landscapes, character, gastronomy, history, architecture and climate. This tour is led by Denise Lurton-Moullé and, our friend,Carol de Montrichard who has spent many summers in St Jean de Luz and lived in Ascain for years. She knows this area very well. We stay at two very special hotels out of the main tourist spots: private homes remodeled as small inns. It is best to fly from Paris or London to Biarritz and take a cab to our first hotel. Our days will be spent between visits to the local museums like the great Basque Museum in Bayonne and the Guggenheim in Bilbao Spain. We shall enjoy the typical basque architecture as well as the building styles of Spain when we stop in such places as the tapas bars of San Sebastien on the Spanish side of the Basque country. We shall meet local artisans known for their skills from the makers of "gateaux basques", special dry hams and sheep milk cheeses to "malika" the traditional shepherd's cane and the "chistera" used as a kind of raquet in the local games similar to squash played against the specially constructed public walls in every Basque village. We shall take walks along the Atlantic oceans and in the mountains where the smugglers in the old days made their way from Spain to France. We shall stop in inns for local gastronomy and tasting the basque wines, visiting hard to find artisans in their workshops and speciality establishments such as the only organic trout farm in France, historic and private homes. There will be ample time for reflection in the beautiful basque churches with their extraordinary cemeteries full of celtic influences.