We were told that we’d be spending much of Saturday on a short, easy hike which would offer great views, that we should bring sneakers but it wasn’t a big deal. In truth? This was a four-hour trek up three mountains. It was hilarious, if painful, to look around: half of us were wearing jeans and sweatshirts (including me, assuming it was going to be cold, as it had been in Paris), and oh, the shoes! We had a pair of high-heeled clogs (“I can’t walk in flats,” she said), sandals with socks (“I got blisters the first day in Paris, and they’re so bad I haven’t put on sneakers since,” he said), a pair of espadrilles literally bought the morning of because the last pair had too many holes to walk in anymore, half a dozen ballet flats, a few pairs of Converse, and the lucky few of us who were actually wearing real sneakers. And then our guides showed up, dressed in sweat-wicking hiking clothes and ankle-supporting boots, wearing waist-cinched backpacks, and we all felt despair.
It was worth it, though. For one, the amount of chocolate/candy I’d consumed the day before had made me want to die before this hike, which burnt off the massive amounts of putrefying sugar in my bloodstream/stomach; for another, the views were unbelievable.
Let’s start at the bottom, shall we?
This was someone’s garden, just before we started really hiking. I love the little hut, and all the green. This is probably the best quality photo I’ve got from this hike: while it seemed perfectly clear up there and the views were spectacular, there was apparently enough haze in the air to make my photos come out foggy.
This is the town behind said garden. I love the red roofs: this was my greatest disappointment in Paris, after Portugal, that the city is all white and grey. But this is very Mediterranean/Spanish, so of course we’d see it in Basque country if anywhere at all. Love it.
A pretty stream on the way up.
The number of ponies we saw... Our guides were talking about how they’re kind of native to the area, small stocky horses, and they were left to roam more-or-less free across the mountains, kept penned up by barbed wire fencing, but only checked once a week or so. When we wondered what they were good for, it’s a mixture of work, milk (horse milk is surprisingly popular here), and meat. Which is sad, so…aren’t they cute?
This hill was almost vertical. We were massively impressed by this horse’s ability to not only stand, but walk on that slope. Hardy little animals.
More horses! We city kids never got over it. “Look, another horse! Quick, where’s my camera? Oh my God, it’s looking at us! Quick, quick!” Our guides were laughing at us.
Horse…or cow?
This is part of why I like hiking. Isn’t this lovely?
The first real view we got. Eventually these will all start to blur together. But that white-and-red blur by the sea is St. Jean-de-Luz, where we spent the next day. Lovely little town.
What may possibly be the horses’ stable? This was in the little clearing where we ate lunch (which was kind of overrun by horses, including nursing foals), and I just thought it was a pretty little building. But the horseshoe’s upside down – all the luck will drain out!
I love all the decorations hanging from the roofbeams.
This is about three-quarters of our group, eating the delicious lunches that were packed for us. Tasty, tasty sandwiches and Basque cakes. Note how everyone’s dressed, and then look at the two people standing up in the background (our guides): yeah.
Snapped this as we were leaving after lunch. Loved the view looking out over the mountains.
The first of the really stunning views. The photo really doesn’t do it justice, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it not hazy. Beautiful.
Ok, look carefully at the ground below in this one. I love the way the fields are laid out with hedges and spotted with trees.
I just like this one.
It looks like a little toy village, doesn’t it?
Ok, this is probably the best one I’ve got of this hike. The colors are perfect and you get the sense of unending beauty that we all saw up there, stretching out over hills and farms and small towns, out to the next set of mountains (or the ocean, depending which way you looked). And the haze actually works here, blending the green of the ground into the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. If it weren’t for that hand…
Everyone, just standing around, glad for a break (this was only mountain number 2) and admiring the view.
I love the little flash of the river you get here, and the way the rock ledge makes it look like you could just plunge off it into the view. (You can’t. That’s actually the way we walked up.)
This is Monica. I was sitting there and was so struck by the colors that I had to take a picture: the white and red and blue and green. It’s actually a really great Basque metaphor.
The hills are alive with the sound of music! We all stopped to look for Julie Andrews. And to take pictures – again with the arm. Too many of us wanting the same views, apparently.
Such a pretty dog, but so shy. And that’s Francesca next to him: she picked that stick up at the beginning of the hike and actually took it home to Paris. It's taller than I am. Got lots of confused looks on the metro.
More of the dog.
A barn full of sheep. Not a great photo, but I thought the huddled masses of wooly white backs were hilarious.
And look, it’s the same farm we were just at, but from on high! (This is mountain number 3.)
And the sheep from that farm! I love this photo. I’m not sure what it is, whether it’s the colors or the concentration of the sheep or just that it’s the quintessential farm photo, but I love it.
I absolutely love the shadows clouds make on hills, the way they actually have clear edges and it’s just a reflection of the sky. One of my favorite things to do on hikes is just to stand and watch the cloud shadows chase each other.
All the world spread out below.
Once more and finally, the whole group. We look exhausted, don’t we? (Oh Cody, put your shirt back on.)
We saw this as we were leaving (finally), and we all want to live here.
This is why I love the countryside. You know, if the views from the mountains weren’t enough.
A very pretty little pond we saw on the way out, and a connected stream.
Quick, quick, it’s livestock, where’s my camera? I do like this photo, though.
The Basque colors are red and green, so by law, every house has to have either red or green shutters. They’ve also all got the red tile roofs and white-washed walls, too.
Such a pretty little street.
Can you imagine seeing this view every day, on your way out to get groceries or to work or to school or just out for a walk? Unbelievable. Again, this is why I want to move here when I graduate.
Home at last! Time for naps on the bus and swimming with towels "borrowed" from the hotel, then a karaoke bar where everyone had unbelievable voices and finally, to bed. The hotel had delicious breakfasts, but we had to get up early to eat them.
Next up (probably tomorrow, because it's written and I'm way behind): our final day in St. Jean-de-Luz (which means more beach pictures!).
It was worth it, though. For one, the amount of chocolate/candy I’d consumed the day before had made me want to die before this hike, which burnt off the massive amounts of putrefying sugar in my bloodstream/stomach; for another, the views were unbelievable.
Let’s start at the bottom, shall we?
This was someone’s garden, just before we started really hiking. I love the little hut, and all the green. This is probably the best quality photo I’ve got from this hike: while it seemed perfectly clear up there and the views were spectacular, there was apparently enough haze in the air to make my photos come out foggy.
This is the town behind said garden. I love the red roofs: this was my greatest disappointment in Paris, after Portugal, that the city is all white and grey. But this is very Mediterranean/Spanish, so of course we’d see it in Basque country if anywhere at all. Love it.
A pretty stream on the way up.
The number of ponies we saw... Our guides were talking about how they’re kind of native to the area, small stocky horses, and they were left to roam more-or-less free across the mountains, kept penned up by barbed wire fencing, but only checked once a week or so. When we wondered what they were good for, it’s a mixture of work, milk (horse milk is surprisingly popular here), and meat. Which is sad, so…aren’t they cute?
This hill was almost vertical. We were massively impressed by this horse’s ability to not only stand, but walk on that slope. Hardy little animals.
More horses! We city kids never got over it. “Look, another horse! Quick, where’s my camera? Oh my God, it’s looking at us! Quick, quick!” Our guides were laughing at us.
Horse…or cow?
This is part of why I like hiking. Isn’t this lovely?
The first real view we got. Eventually these will all start to blur together. But that white-and-red blur by the sea is St. Jean-de-Luz, where we spent the next day. Lovely little town.
What may possibly be the horses’ stable? This was in the little clearing where we ate lunch (which was kind of overrun by horses, including nursing foals), and I just thought it was a pretty little building. But the horseshoe’s upside down – all the luck will drain out!
I love all the decorations hanging from the roofbeams.
This is about three-quarters of our group, eating the delicious lunches that were packed for us. Tasty, tasty sandwiches and Basque cakes. Note how everyone’s dressed, and then look at the two people standing up in the background (our guides): yeah.
Snapped this as we were leaving after lunch. Loved the view looking out over the mountains.
The first of the really stunning views. The photo really doesn’t do it justice, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it not hazy. Beautiful.
Ok, look carefully at the ground below in this one. I love the way the fields are laid out with hedges and spotted with trees.
I just like this one.
It looks like a little toy village, doesn’t it?
Ok, this is probably the best one I’ve got of this hike. The colors are perfect and you get the sense of unending beauty that we all saw up there, stretching out over hills and farms and small towns, out to the next set of mountains (or the ocean, depending which way you looked). And the haze actually works here, blending the green of the ground into the white of the clouds and the blue of the sky. If it weren’t for that hand…
Everyone, just standing around, glad for a break (this was only mountain number 2) and admiring the view.
I love the little flash of the river you get here, and the way the rock ledge makes it look like you could just plunge off it into the view. (You can’t. That’s actually the way we walked up.)
This is Monica. I was sitting there and was so struck by the colors that I had to take a picture: the white and red and blue and green. It’s actually a really great Basque metaphor.
The hills are alive with the sound of music! We all stopped to look for Julie Andrews. And to take pictures – again with the arm. Too many of us wanting the same views, apparently.
Such a pretty dog, but so shy. And that’s Francesca next to him: she picked that stick up at the beginning of the hike and actually took it home to Paris. It's taller than I am. Got lots of confused looks on the metro.
More of the dog.
A barn full of sheep. Not a great photo, but I thought the huddled masses of wooly white backs were hilarious.
And look, it’s the same farm we were just at, but from on high! (This is mountain number 3.)
And the sheep from that farm! I love this photo. I’m not sure what it is, whether it’s the colors or the concentration of the sheep or just that it’s the quintessential farm photo, but I love it.
I absolutely love the shadows clouds make on hills, the way they actually have clear edges and it’s just a reflection of the sky. One of my favorite things to do on hikes is just to stand and watch the cloud shadows chase each other.
All the world spread out below.
Once more and finally, the whole group. We look exhausted, don’t we? (Oh Cody, put your shirt back on.)
We saw this as we were leaving (finally), and we all want to live here.
This is why I love the countryside. You know, if the views from the mountains weren’t enough.
A very pretty little pond we saw on the way out, and a connected stream.
Quick, quick, it’s livestock, where’s my camera? I do like this photo, though.
The Basque colors are red and green, so by law, every house has to have either red or green shutters. They’ve also all got the red tile roofs and white-washed walls, too.
Such a pretty little street.
Can you imagine seeing this view every day, on your way out to get groceries or to work or to school or just out for a walk? Unbelievable. Again, this is why I want to move here when I graduate.
Home at last! Time for naps on the bus and swimming with towels "borrowed" from the hotel, then a karaoke bar where everyone had unbelievable voices and finally, to bed. The hotel had delicious breakfasts, but we had to get up early to eat them.
Next up (probably tomorrow, because it's written and I'm way behind): our final day in St. Jean-de-Luz (which means more beach pictures!).
1 comment:
HORSIES!!! Lord, when I see a horse, I turn right back into a horse-obsessed eight year old. Also chickens and sheep! Barnyard animals! I'd be furiously photographing them as well--I know I did when I was in Ireland. What gorgeous countryside. I can definitely see its appeal!
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