Category: Europe Fall 2021

When Duke planned our itinerary he found a hike that we could do on this leg of the trip. The hike to a viewpoint overlooking the Nervión waterfall was about a two hour drive from Limpias. Although the forecast for the day was rain, and given that as we were leaving the skies looked threatening, we weren’t sure if we would want to hike. We decided to drive to where the hike started and then assess the situation. And of course we planned to stop at any sites we happened to see along the way.

After about an hour on the road we passed what looked like it would be an interesting church. We stopped to check it out and to stretch our legs. It turned out to be really special. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Oak was constructed in 1498 with money contributed by pilgrims and by the monarchs.

Inside the church the altar pieces were intricately carved and gilded and the painted decoration were bright.

Outside is an oak tree that is more than 500 years old.

A bit farther down the road we turned off at a sign pointing to a scenic view and waterfall. We found an idyllic valley.

When we got to the start of the hike to the Viewpoint for Nervión Waterfall the weather had cleared a bit so we decided to do the two and a half mile loop trail.

Along the way we passed the ruins of an old monastery church.

As we walked up to the viewpoint this was the view.

But the wind was playing with the fog and eventually we could see this.

We saw a tiny trickle of water coming out of the wall below the top. The canyon and the view were pretty amazing even if the falls was basically dry.

On the way back we saw walls and a pit where ancient people used to drive wolves into the pit trap kill them.

The road we took after the hike going towards Argomaniz took us down the wall of the canyon we saw on the hike.

The Parador of Argomaniz is another former palace.

For dinner we went to a restaurant called La Bodeguilla Lanciego in the nearby town of Vitoria-Gasteiz. The part of town we were in had a lot of big apartment blocks and it looked like parking would be a problem but we managed to find an underground parking garage near the Corté Inglés department store and only had to walk a couple of blocks.

We started with peppers, asparagus and leeks.

Then we shared a fish.

Finally we shared a steak. It came to the table very rare but they also brought us a hot griddle to use if we wanted the meat cooked further.

We take lots of photos when we travel. I create an Apple shared album of all the photos and also a Google Album. If you would like to see all the pictures let me know and I will add you to the album.

I also create videos of our travels and add them to my YouTube channel. If you would like to see the videos my YouTube channel link is here. Please subscribe! Also please remember that when it comes to videos I am still learning! Videos are always a bit behind where we are on the trip. I just added the video for Barcelona here.

Today we drove along the north coast of Spain about 110 miles from Hondarribia to the town of Limpias where we are staying at another Parador. It rained most of the day but we were lucky to have dry beaks when we got out of the car a few times. At our first two stops we saw several hikers who were hiking the Camino Santiago.

Near Bilbao we stopped at Gaztelugatxe. It is a hermitage on a little island of the coast. Everything I read said you climb down a very steep trail, cross a stone bridge and then climb up to the hermitage. It was only after we took the VERY steep trail down that we found out that the path was closed because of a landslide and the island was inaccessible. It a very pretty setting but I’m not sure I would have climbed down if if known we couldn’t go out to the island! We also learned that part of Game of Thrones was filmed here.

Tonight we are staying in the Parador de Limpias. It is a former palace set in beautiful grounds.

The Spanish eat late by American standards. we started dinner at 8:30 last night and didn’t finish until almost 11.

At breakfast this morning at Chambres d’Hotes Aire Beria in Irissarry our host served our breakfast. His grandfather bought the house in the early twentieth century. He is Basque and taught us to say good day in Basque, egun.

He also knew about the Basque studies program at University of Nevada, Reno. I showed him a picture of the Basque restaurant in Elko, Nevada. When he saw the neon sign outside the restaurant he said that all the Basque neon experts emigrated to Nevada! He told us that picon, the drink that is identified as Basque by many people, was popular with his grandparents generation but is no longer at all common in the Basque region. He entertained us with jokes throughout breakfast.

Soon after we left Irissary we entered a town packed with people who were parking in every possible spot in town. I think it must have been a big flea market I saw a sign for La Marche d’Ahetze.

We drove to the Atlantic coast, parked and took a short hike above the beach. Although it was overcast, gray, and rainy there were a lot of surfers in the water.

As we were hiking down the trail JoAnn greeted a passing hiker with the Basque greeting, egun! The man responded with a flood of Basque. I guess JoAnn looked and sounded authentic!

After our beach stop we went straight to our Parador in Hondarribia. Hondarribia is just over the border in Spain. The view out our windows is France.

We went out for a walk around Hondarribia and to have coffee.

Luckily by this point the rain was clearing so we were able to play cards on the terrace overlooking the bay and France.

We ate dinner at a restaurant across from the Parador. We shared several plates.

When Duke originally planned this portion of our itinerary he chose four places to stay that were about 60 miles apart and would allow us to go from Andorra through the French Pyrenees to the French Spanish border on the Bay of Biscay. We don’t really plan activities in each town we stay in. The activity is the drive on back roads through the French countryside.

This morning we had a great breakfast at Chateau De Druon.

It was raining hard when we woke up and it rained pretty much nonstop all day. As we started our drive we ran into road closures because of a bicycle race.

We modified our route and headed west. the roads we choose are often narrow, winding and they have almost no traffic.

In one small town we went through they had a tractor display and a woman was making cheese. We stopped to check it out. people always assume we are Spanish since our rent a car license plate is Spanish but we always let them know we are from Iowa and Nevada which elicits smiles.

As we continued on, the road got narrower, the terrain got more desolate and we gained altitude.

We saw a lot of cattle, horses and sheep. Sometimes they were in the middle of the road.

As we were getting closer to Irrisary and getting down to a lower altitude we saw people hiking and running in the mountains. I’m pretty sure it was the Ttutturru Trail which is a series of races. The marathon race has more than 3000 feet of elevation gain. Check out the link. I can’t even imagine that much of a hike but when you add the rain and mud, oomph!

The place we are staying Saturday night is called Chambres d’Hotes Aire Beria. The lady who checked us in suggested a restaurant for dinner called Art Zain. When they opened one of the staff here made a reservation for us. We walked about a mile to the restaurant and had another great meal. The staff was very helpful. Even with my limited French and their limited English we managed to order. Everyone on this trip has been very accommodating in dealing with allergies.

This morning we decided to drive the backroads to our next stop, Savignacq-Meyraco. The Map app says the trip should take two and a half hours but our ‘scenic’ route including stops took six hours. It was an incredibly beautiful drive. The French countryside is so beautiful it is almost unreal.

Soon after we got on the road we pulled over at a rest area. The rest area parking lot actually overlooked a prehistoric shelter that was occupied by homo sapiens of the aurignacienne culture 36,000 years ago. Right next to the shelter an archaeological site was being excavated.

We went for a walk in the nearby woods following signs to a museum that was supposed to be 20 minutes away. We didn’t find the museum but we had a nice walk.

Later we had a great picnic lunch.

We found another bread machine and bought another loaf of bread to snack on.

Tonight we are staying at Chateau de Druon. It is a beautiful building with ornate rooms. Our room is decorated like an old airship. The chateau was built in the 1870s it was a ruin when the current owners bought. They spent twelve years renovating and furnishing it.

The owner of Chateau recommended a restaurant out in the country, Les Bains de Secours. We had the best meal we have had since arriving in France.

After dinner we played cards in one of the dining rooms at Chateau Druon.