With her permission, here are some notes sent me by Parigi.
**************************
I'm going back to Basque Country this September. As before, we are renting a house in the village of Sare, very close to the border.
San Sebastian is less than an hour's drive away. Saint Jean de Luz-Ciboure and the Basque Coast is 20 minutes away.
Sare itself is a listed Plus Beau Village. There are quite a few other plus beaux villages around.
Our favorite nearby villages are Saint Etienne de Baigorry, Ciboure, Bayonne.
Don't think of French Basque country and Spanish Basque Country as two places to be visited separately. They really are one unit, and you'll find yourself crisscrossing borders all the time. Ex: although we lived on the French edge, the closest supermarket - and fiendishly cheap and excellent - is in Spain, 15-min drive away, in Dantxaria. Check its nearby village Urdax. Another beautiful tiny village in Spain but very near Sare is Zugarramurdi. I can never remember the name and call it Krishnamurti.
Our favorite restaurants are :
-
Restaurant olhabidea. The restaurant is the old family home of the restaurant owner, exquisitely decorated. The garden is beautiful. The food only uses fresh ingredients from its own garden or adjacent farms.
- Urtxola. Very relaxed country inn, in an old smuggler's house walkable to Spain.
- Chez Mattin in Ciboure. Old school restaurant using a ton of butter on its ultra fresh seasood. Full of very chic oldtimers, esp boat owners.
- Erreguina, in a tiny village with a trout pond, in the Aldudes valley, which is David's favorite drive in all of Europe. At Erreguina, get the baby trout, which you should reserve at least half a day in advance. The restaurant will pick it up from the village pond.
My favorite pilgrimage spots - absolutely hadj, - are
- Socoa beach in Ciboure
- Market in St Jean de Luz (choose one of its mad market days)
- the Aldudes valley drive
- Parte Vieja (old town) of San Sebastian. Walk off your pintxos run in the old port. I love love love it.
- a dinner at Olhabidea, preceded by apéro in the garden.
In San Sebastian, we never leave the old town. We prefer a pintxos crawl instead of a 3-hour-long starre meal. Our favorite pintxos bars - also favorites of Anthony Bourdain's, as he kept coming in behind us, - are Astelena, Cuchara San Telmo and Xeruko. We like to share 4 little plates between us, then go on to another bar and repeat, constituting our itinerant tasting menu.
Astelena is on a beautiful square. Point to the raw seafood, then go out and choose a table. The seafood will be cooked and brought to you. In these places, esp on game days, the vibes are intense.
******************