Zaragoza, San Sebastian and Saint-Jean-de-Luz
After leaving Barcelona we took a road that ran practically parallel to the Pyrenees that border France and Spain. Our next port of call was Zaragoza, the capital of the province of Aragorn and one of Spain’s largest cities. Despite being home to one of the largest churches in the world, there wasn’t much else to see here besides a portion of the Roman wall and cool fountain. We spent the night in Zaragoza after the long drive through Northern Spain, and left early the following morning just as soon as we’d taken a quick walk around the main square.
Cue another long drive, this time up to the west coast of Spain through lots of tunnels and mountain passes. We emerged in the idyllic town of San Sebastian, a short hop away from the French border. San Sebastian could have jumped right off the front of a postcard with its pretty promenade hugging a calm beach, old Spanish buildings and giant statue of Jesus atop a hill. We only stopped long enough for some paella and a few photos before jumping back on the road and onto Bayonne for the night. Now we were officially back in France - the final leg in our journey!
The following morning was spent in Biarritz which I’ll dedicate the next entry to. For now though I’ll skip over it to the last stop before home, the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Another beachside fishing town, Saint-Jean-de-Luz sure had a lot of character. White buildings were framed with shutters, roofs and beams in bright colours like cobalt blue and brick red. Little squares opened up at the ends of lanes with bistros and gnarled, leafless trees. And artisan chocolate shops were everywhere! Alas, once the shops re-opened after closing for a few hours over lunch it was time for us to get back on the road so we quickly grabbed some millefeuille and marzipan for a rather messy car trip back to Festalemps.
- Zaragoza: a pop of colour on a grey day
- Zaragoza: Marc and me by the Roman wall
- Zaragoza: Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, one of the largest churches in the world
- San Sebastian: postcard perfect
- San Sebastian: a carousel
- San Sebastian: Playa de la Concha
- San Sebastian: huge statue of Jesus on Monte Urgull
- San Sebastian: benches on the promenade
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: blue shutters
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: Harbour
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: on of many squares with gnarled trees
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: chocolate babushkas!
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: pretty door
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: Maison Louis XIV
- Saint-Jean-de-Luz: red shutters this time
