Our destination was Espelette, France’s red pepper
capital. Espelette is close to the
border with Spain and smack dab in the Basque region of France. The approach to Espelette from Bayonne is
rife with road signs bearing the photos of “Basque Political Prisoners.” It would seem that one man’s terrorist is
another man’s freedom fighter. The names of towns we passed near or through
were unpronounceable to the mere mortals in our Peugeot 208. They are tongue twisters for us Anglophones in
the best of times. On the radio, we
heard periodic news reports in Basque—or what we assumed were news
reports. It put me in mind of our drive
through Arizona when we listened to Navajo radio. The Basque music in the tourist shops, on the
other hand, sounded familiar and made me smile—and want to hum along.
Espelette is dripping with peppers hanging from frames,
pitched roofs, house facades, tourist shop displays, interior walls. The postcards offer recipes using “des
piments” (the peppers). Poulet Basquaise
(Basque Chicken) features chicken, red peppers, green peppers, tomatoes,
onions, white wine, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bouquet garni. Looks good and sounds good.
French Basque country is also the birthplace of the
espadrille and the famous French beret. Too
cold and wet for espadrilles, it’s always the season for the beret—sported by townspeople, farmers, vintners, and priests (shown here in an animated conversation
in the town of St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port) alike.
Porte d'Espagne |
- From Espelette we drove to St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port, one of the major staging areas for the pilgrimage (camino) to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, that pilgrimage which is featured in the movie “The Way,” and which is taken by committed and determined Catholics as well as people of other faiths whose motivation ranges from the religious to the very secular and very personal. The town lies at the foot of the Roncesvalles Pass which takes the pilgrims through the Pyrenées into Spain. In St.-Jean, we enjoyed lunch overlooking the river Nive and the foothills beyond, then meandered through the Porte d’Espagne into the old town, its church and the bridge that starts the path of the camino.
Window from St.-Jean's church |
Bridge starting pilgrimage to Spain |
No comments:
Post a Comment