We'll start in Bidart, the perfect representation of the typical Basque village, with its church, pediment and town hall. Your guide will explain the Basque social organization and the particularities of our churches. A captivating view of the coast will also delight lovers of wide open spaces!
The major stage at Saint Jean de Luz will be approached with a walk on a hill overlooking this magnificent bay and offering breathtaking views. If walking isn't for you, you can easily access a viewpoint with the van.
The tour of the town center takes in the beach, pedestrian shopping streets, fishing port and sumptuous 17th-century houses. Your guide will reveal many themes: whaling, wealthy shipowners, the privateering era, the marriage of Louis XIV, the reclamation of the town by Naploéon III, the development of tourism and Art Deco treasures.
On the way from St Jean de Luz, we'll stop in Sare, an isolated village at the foot of the Rhune, where the serene atmosphere contrasts with the heavy past of its border location.
Nearby is the delightful village of Ainhoa, listed as one of France's most beautiful villages, where your guide will introduce you to Basque culture and social organization. The theme of the Pilgrim's Way to Santiago de Compostela will also feature prominently in this Bastide town, created in the 13th century to settle the population and provide a stopover for pilgrims.
We'll continue with a visit to Espelette, world-famous for its chili pepper used by chefs the world over. The village lies on the border between the provinces of Labourd and Basse Navarre. The boundary is not only historical, but also geological, as the landscape changes and we enter a mountainous area.
To finish on a high note, we reach the Pas de Roland, a pleasant surprise with its rocky defile and the tumult of the river La Nive running through it. The romantic landscape is the subject of many legends, but its name refers to a very real page of history in which Charlemagnes' nephew gave in to Basque warriors.
