EUROPE

I didn’t really like any of my pictures from St Jean Pied de Port although the place was delightful. Too bad about the pix because now I don’t have a story.

On to Lourdes.

My conclusion was this: although Rome is the intellectual and academic capital of Christendom, Lourdes is of-the-people and represents its spiritual heart.

Driving through the most Basque of the countryside, from Bilbao to Pamplona, I was recalling all the stories about the terrorism of Basque separatists.

I saw countless flags and signs touting Basque-ness, bars and clubs and restaurants in the same colors and signs. But for me I felt outsiders were considered beyond worry and welcomed warmly as the tradition of welcoming strangers requires.

So there’s the industrial area housing the museum. Then there’s the residential area that you end up in only by getting lost, and the commercial area with hotels, banks, etc.

I was even glad to spend the night. I stayed in this place and after two nights in auberge it was pretty darn exciting. A bathroom with a Shower! AND a Bath! and a minibar! and a Fireplace and a Sitting Room with Computer Connection to download my Pictures! Oh WOW!

This was my first night in Spain and I was impressed by the dressed-up formality of these workin’ folk and, as I was through most of Spain, surprisingly unimpressed by the food.

A big question before I got there and an easy answer after – is it worth the detour? Yes, it is worth the detour!

Everything you’ve read is true. The town is blue collar top to bottom. The museum is nestled there between the train tracks and the oil refinery. This powerful symbol of – of what? good question – anyway it is a powerful symbol and you are forced to consider the conflict inherent in so much money being put to such use – like seeing a poor town support a magnificent cathedral.

Inside it is as spellbinding as outside and if you get a chance and can daytrip in you won’t be sorry.

That’s me there in the mirror of the blind-turn. What one won’t do for a picture…

I missed taking a shot in St Jean de Luz and San Sebastian because of rain and agitato. It was pouring by the time I hit St Jean de Luz and anyway I had planned to spend the night in the much praised Spanish town of San Sebastian so I decided to move along.

Ah! San Sebastian. Yes the architecture and street scene is memorable but Ah! there is a film festival and the place is mercilessly Packed so I decide to take another hour and drive on to Bilbao.

The last several shots, this one and the next are in towns along the Atlantic coast of the Pyrenees.

The windows and the market man are from Bayonne my favorite of the coast towns, this one and the next are in Biarritz, the ritziest of the seaside resorts.