Road to Saint Emilion

Continuing onward from San Sebastian, our well-fed foursome (Tom, Karren, Rex and Charene)  drove over the border and through the Landes pine forests into southwest France.  We found our way to the Dune du Pyla, Europe's highest sand dune and a slice of the Sahara in France.

 I climbed the 400 feet to the top and was rewarded by this beautiful view of a small stretch of the southern Atlantic seaboard of France.  Don't I look French in my blue and white striped top?! 

You can't go to Bordeaux country without experiencing the wine!  The day after we arrived, we headed about 22 miles northeast of the city of Bordeaux (more about the city in my next blog) to the region of Saint Emilion with a local tour guide named Frederic Borliachon of Rendez-Vous au Chateau.

 Rex and I have toured many a vineyard over the past few years but this was the FIRST time we have ever been lucky enough to time our visit with the actual harvest.  The grapes were plump, sweet and ready for picking!

Our first stop was the Chateau Cadet Bon, where the grapes were harvested by hand and taken into a barnlike structure to begin the process of converting grapes to "Grand Cru Classe de Saint-Emilion" wine.  This is what their label looks like.

The grapes are deposited into a machine that destems them, then a handful of workers literally sort through every single grape and discard any that aren't suitable for the next process.  The grapes were coming at a fast pace along this conveyor belt.  I started getting the giggles because it reminded me so much of the Lucy Show episode where Lucy and Ethel couldn't keep up with the chocolates coming along the assembly line so they kept popping them in their mouths.  Anyone remember that?!

The vintner and owner of Chateau Cadet Bon graciously offered us barrel tastings of his wine.

The small village of Saint Emilion itself is spectacular.  The town's superb medieval streets, buildings, and monuments are extremely well-preserved and sit up high on a hill.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and well-deserving of this distinction.

 Carved by Benedictine monks out of solid rock over three centuries in honor of Saint Emilion, the Monolithic Church is the largest and best preserved subterranean church in all of Europe.  The damp underground catacombs represent only a small portion of the 70 acres of underground rooms that have yet to be excavated.  We took a tour of the catacombs but, unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures.

The cloisters of St. Emilion.

  Emilion was a very religious young man and performed many miracles before his death in 767.  After completing a pilgrimage to this area of France, he dug out a cave and dedicated his life to God, living there as a hermit. He had done so much good that his name was given to the place where he had lived which became known as St. Emilion.

Graffiti isn't new to our world.  Do you see the scratchings on the walls surrounding Saint Emilion?  Travelers from many centuries ago left their mark on these walls.

As we walked along the narrow cobblestone streets, Rex discovered some small grapevines for sale.  Could this be the beginning of a new venture?  If only we were fluent in French......

These watering basins were originally used by the womenfolk to do the laundry.  Maytag has come a long way but you have to admit, it was a pretty setting.

The Joneses and the Crouches pose in front of a spectacular background before heading to 

the next winery, Chateau Lavergne Dulong.

Sylvie, the owner gave us a tour of her winery and, after a tasting there, she proudly showed us

 her chateau, which she has recently refurbished into a beautiful B & B.  If I ever come back to this region, I'd love to stay here.

More to come on the rest of our trip in France......

Food for Thought

Continuing on our excellent adventure, we employed the services of San Sebastian Foods for food and wine tours while in San Sebastian.  This city is reknowned for it's cutting edge food and for it's unique Basque culinary culture.

I guess what was most striking to me was the prevalence of "pinxtos" restaurants.  What is a pinxto (there's that pesky "x" again), you may ask?  Basically, it's the Basque version of tapas - small, practically bite-sized culinary delights.  Pinxto is pronounced as "pink show."  San Sebastian has hundreds of these types of restaurants/bars - even ones that serve breakfast, pinxto-style.

So, it's much like bar hopping - no, it IS bar hopping.  If you're smart, you hop into the establishments that are bustling with locals - they obviously have the best food!  The bars are lined with a variety of pinxtos, you pick up a plate and choose what looks best to you.  They charge per pinxto.  The hard part is choosing because it all looks good.  You have to pace yourself, though, because you must move on

to the next pinxto bar.  The pinxto selection is different in each one so you don't want to fill up in the first one.

Because of the location of S. S., seafood is abundant and is a large part of the Basque diet.  Anchovies play a big role in some of the pinxtos.  Before you say "yuk," I should remind you that these aren't your typical canned anchovies.  These are fresh from the sea and I can tell you it makes a huge difference in the taste.  They're not fishy tasting and not nearly as salty as the canned ones.

Quite simple really - some mild peppers, a slice of fresh anchovy and an olive.  Delicious - and pretty!

Here's another anchovy pinxto:  fresh crusty bread topped with huge anchovies and - get this - blueberries!  Sounds weird, I know, but it was my favorite!

Of course, you have to have something to complement the taste and that could be a glass of wine or

some cider.  That's NOT apple cider but a light-tasting cider beer.  This bartender's job is easy as all he has to do is line up the glasses.

These pinxtos are little sandwiches with another Spanish delicacy, Iberico ham, on the top.

Towards the end of the evening, our group ended up going to another beautiful restaurant for a final pinxto and glass of wine. (This guy acts like he owns the place!)

Several members of our group were Norwegians and this one, in particular, was quite a character.  His name is Swein and, believe it or not, he is a butcher!  We learned that the Norwegian word for "cheers," is "skol."  We were saying that a lot by that time of the evening!

Another evening was spent touring the Rekondo wine cellar, which boasts having over 150,000 bottles of wine!  The tome of a wine list has over 4,000 different wines to choose from.

The vast private collection includes vintage Mouton Rothschilds dating back to the late 1800s.

Martin, the restaurant sommelier, is passionate about the wine.

You can't visit this part of Spain without tasting the Rioja for which they are famous.

On to take a peek at the colorful food market where the Spaniards have a plethora of fresh foods to select from each day.

Ham, the king of all Spanish foods and

lots of fresh fish, a Basque favorite.

One evening, we splurged and treated ourselves to dinner at Arzak, one of 3 Michelin 3-star restaurants in San Sebastian and described by some as the best restaurant in the world.  This city of 180,000 people has more Michelin stars per inhabitant than any place on earth. Fifteen, to be precise.  That means one star for every 12,000 inhabitants!

Our reservation was at 8:45 - the earliest reservation possible.  Once again, late night eating is definitely part of the Spanish culture.  By the time we walked out of the restaurant that evening, it was almost 1:00 a.m.  We couldn't believe we had been there for 4 hours!

The time flew by because not only were we being fed but we were entertained by each course that came out.  Rex and Tom did the "tasting" menu, which meant quite a few courses.  Karren and I opted for fewer courses but, by no means less exotic and mind-blowing.

Every dish was a work of art and 

was delicious, too.

Lemon, prawns and patchouli.

Pigeon with orange and corn

"Playing marbles with chocolate."  This was my dessert selection and I have to admit I was a little wary of choosing an ice cream made with basil and mixing it with chocolate.  It surprised me and soon I couldn't get enough of it.  Exquisite!

  This sauce grew before our eyes!

Blackberry and raspberry tree.

Can you guess what "ferreteria" means in Spanish?  Hardware store! Yum - sweet nuts and bolts.  Who ever thought up that idea?

One of the highlights of the evening was the opportunity to meet Elena Arzak (pictured) and her father, Juan Mari Arzak, founder of the restaurant.  They work as a duo and, in Elena's words about her philosophy towards the food they serve, "We create an author’s cuisine: a Basque cuisine with research, innovation and a desire to be avant-garde, without turning our backs on local traditions." In my opinion, they have succeeded!

Our Excellent Adventure in Spain

An easy hour and a half flight on RyanAir, our friends Tom and Karren Crouch and Rex and I landed at the 

airport in Biarritz, France, located in southern France near the border of Spain.  We rented a car there and our excellent and much under-paid driver, Rex, drove to San Sebastian, Spain, which is only about a 45 minute drive from the airport.

We stayed at the beautiful Villa Soro in San Sebastian.

As in most European cities, San Sebastian has it's town square.  This is Constitution Plaza during the day.

There used to be bull fights held here and these numbers above the doorways represented the window seats that were sold to those that could afford a good view.  Nowadays they are very expensive apartments that are small and, according to a local, not in very good condition.

And here it is at night, filled with locals and visitors alike, sharing a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and rehashing the day.  Their sense of community and easy-going lifestyle is very apparent in places like this.

The Joneses and the Crouches on the Zurriola Bridge (also pictured below), built in the 1920's.

San Sebastian is located on the Cantabrian Sea between Bilbao and Biarritz.

Here's a local providing some lovely Spanish music on the bridge.

Europe has been experiencing unusually warm weather for this time of year and S.S. was no exception.  The beaches were packed with people hoping to get in one last hot, sunny weekend of frolicking on the sands of La Concha beach.

Interestingly, there were hardly any beach chairs on the beach.  It was impeccably clean and everyone just brings a simple towel and finds an empty spot.  The most popular pastime seemed to be just being out in the beautiful sunshine and strolling along the beach.

High above the La Concha beach sits a gigantic statue of Christ and surrounding the statue is the Castle of the Holy Cross, an 800-year old fortress that once guarded the city from invaders.

We saw men all over the place wearing pedal pushers but Karren and I couldn't convince Rex and Tom to wear them!

This was a little open-air train that took us around the city.  Txu Txu is pronounced "choo choo" - get it?!  Actually, many of the Basque words have X's in them.  This language, called Euskara, is really foreign looking and dates back about 5,000 years.  It's the oldest, pre-indo European language still in existence and about 30% of S.S.'s population speak Euskara.

The city is well-designed and is a popular tourist spot for Spaniards and all nationalities.

In the Old Town, the narrow streets offer surprising views at every corner.  Looking right at this intersection, lies the Basilica de Santa Maria while looking left

you'll find the Buen Pastor Cathedral.

Boarding a small little boat, we cross an estuary to the scenic, little fishing village of San Juan.

Here, time seems to stand still as

the laundry is still hung out to dry in the warmth of the sun.

We take our time exploring the village on foot along with

 a multitude of local school children on a field trip.

Colorful flower boxes complement the brightly painted balconies and doorways.

The walkways and streets are narrow

and almost uninhabited except for this 

woman who is taking her cats (yes, there are two huge cats in this stroller) for a walk!

The water looks refreshing.

The red and white markings on the right side of the picture indicate the route for the El Camino de Santiago.  In English it means “The Way of Saint James,” and is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where legend has it that the remains of Jesus’s apostle, Saint James, lie. The Camino has existed as a Christian pilgrimage for well over 1,000 years. 

Many people still do this for spiritual reasons or just for sport and adventure.  We walked a lot but not near the approximately 560 miles of the entire Camino! 

A parting scene of San Juan.  More to come on our visit to the Basque Country as I haven't even touched upon a couple of the greatest things about this part of the world - the food and wine!