All The Spaces in Between

“Get lost!”, she yelled, shaking her fists. “Get lost in your dreams. In the city. On the empty road. The dirt path. Get lost in your thoughts. Your solitude. For it is there, that you will find the magic.”

I’m really good at getting lost.

It’s one of my favorite things to do. That is why John and I decided to peel ourselves away from the beauty of Biarritz while Lily was in school and we explored the basque country backroads. We had no maps and no plans other than to stay off the highways and get lost in the village life, the real lives of the Basque. We hoped to catch the locals enjoying their daily rituals in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. And oh, yes, we also went to Bilbao! Perhaps I will start there because…”Bilbao -wow!”

As I mentioned in my earlier post, John got us a seat at the Chef’s table at “Mina” in Bilbao where we enjoyed a 14-course tasting menu. Our home-base for our Bilbao culinary feast was the Hotel Carlton. I cannot recommend this place enough! The Carlton is wrapped in old world elegance like a queen wrapped in a red velvet blanket. Take a look!

Bilbao lies along the mouth of the Nervión River, 7 miles inland from the Bay of Biscay and is the largest city in the Basque Country. We walked along the Nervión River to “Mina” from the Hotel Carlton.

Bilbao got its start as a seafaring town but quickly transitioned to a mining town when high quality iron ore was discovered on the river’s eastern banks. Our ultimate destination that night was “Mina” which simply means “mine” and is just that, a former iron ore mine, now converted to a Michelin-starred restaurant.

The staff at Mina were hard-working, skilled and attentive. We left our meal with a deeper understanding of Bilbao through the handmade pottery we ate from, the locally sourced foods we savored, and the caring staff that shared it with us.

Rain had begun to fall as we strolled back home after dinner and this made for an even more magical evening than we anticipated.

The next day we were up bright and early to enjoy breakfast in the rotunda and were off to The Guggenheim! The sun shone brightly and the city was pure magic. Take a look at a two block stroll from the Carlton to the Guggenheim = Bilbao WOW!

Am I right? Wow! What a city! The food is fabulous here and the people are so edgy and fashionable. I liken Biarritz, San Sebastian and Bilbao to three siblings. You’ve got Biarittz, prim and proper. Everyone dresses to the hilt. Voices are hushed. Everyone is polite. Biarritz is like the first-born – follows the rules, structured, an achiever. Then we’ve got San Sebastian – the middle child and middle city – a people-pleaser, somewhat rebellious, less structured. And Bilbao feels like the youngest sibling in the pack with its edgy spirit, contemporary art, rule-breaking attitude, mixing up all kinds of art and architecture to create its own spirit with no regard to the rules. Don’t make me go “Sophie’s Choice” on you and pick a favorite because I cannot. Each one is unique and you must see them all to fully understand the basque country at its best. And may I remind you again – although you hear me talking about these three cities and the fact that they are in both France and Spain, they are but 1.5 hours apart from Biarritz to Bilbao with San Sebastian in the middle. See. Them. All.

And please, do not forget to see the spaces and places in between these cities. If you want to arrive in Bilbao or Biarritz quickly, then take the Autopista but be sure to have your pockets filled with change! This is a beautifully maintained road with zero traffic and toll booths every couple of miles. Tolls range from 1.90 euros per stop to 14 euros, depending upon how far you drive. If I recall correctly, when I drove from Biarritz to Bilbao for dinner I made the drive in 1.5 hours and paid about $35 in tolls. On the return trip when we took the Autovias or “backroads”, we did not spend a penny on tolls but instead spent days enjoying the countryside. Here is a quick peek at what we saw:

We passed our days in the mountains along the coast and in the evenings we rolled on down to seaside towns to spend the night. One of our favorite spots was a lovely town called “Saint Jean De Luz”. The beach here is massive and every inch of sand is covered with people. Families and couples inter-mingle on the sand and throughout the village. Saint Jean De Luz is more casual than Biarritz and less elegant, but it has its own charm and we fell in love with the “Luz” vibe. Thallasotherapy spas dot the hotel district and everyone pours out onto the beach all day long. At night, the village is thumping with business as sun-burnt tourists look for some cold libations and seafood. (We were right there with them!)

Hard cider is a popular drink in this area. It is poured at an arm’s distance above one’s glass with great pomp and panache. My guess is this helps aerate the drink and increases its effervescence. It’s fun to watch “the pour” and just as much fun to drink!

We stayed at the rustic Hotel De La Poste while we were in Saint Jean Luz. The hotel had great, old-world charm, complete with creaky wooden staircases, massive hallways, and a lower lobby that made me feel as if I were at home in my own living room (if I had a pool table in my living room!) John went to bed early and I hung out in the lobby preparing this blog and listening to the sounds of the visitors to Saint Jean De Luz as they filled their night with laughter, basque food and libations.

We were up with the dawn break (as usual) and held ourselves accountable to exercising before we hit the road again. The local seniors in St Jean have a fabulous morning routine where they wade into the water up to their rib cage and walk from one end of the beach to the other. John and I joined the early-risers in their underwater beach walk on this fine day. We felt the soft, powdered-sugar-sand melt beneath our feet while our arms and heads stayed above the water. We propelled ourselves forward, walking at as fast a pace as we could muster against the water resistance. We pushed hard from one end of the beach to the other. It took us a solid hour to go from end-to-end and our legs felt like soggy noodles when we stepped out onto the shore. We then brushed the sand off of our feet and headed up to the old light house that held court atop the hill overlooking the beach town of Saint Jean De Luz.

A strong cup of coffee and the traditional tomato spread on bread to fortify ourselves and we were on our way to the next adventure!

We were headed to the San Sebastian train station to pick up Laura Anton Fernandez. Laura is a foreign-exchange teacher who came to live with us in Montara years ago. She came to us from Palencia, Spain and we fell in love with her adopted her as our “second daughter”. She has joined us on adventures in Mexico, Orlando, FL, and to Barcelona. We were now going to take her to Paris with us! We have not seen her in 3 years and are excited to reunite! I’ll keep you posted on our antics and thank you for reading!