This morning we arrived in the Basque country, where Basque culture still thrives: unique sports, cuisine, and a language that may date back to the Stone Age, the origins of which still baffle linguists. St. Jean de Luz is the Basque country's largest fishing port, now turned seaside resort. It started life as a whaling port, with the last whale in these waters being harpooned in 1678. Today the main catch is tuna, served at the many quayside restaurants. The house where Maurice Ravel, the composer, was born can be visited along with the wonderful church where Louis XIV married his child-bride, Marie Therese, cementing a Borbon alliance between France and Spain. An afternoon walking tour of the old town finished on the delightful promenade.
The morning was devoted to a visit to Europe's chocolate capital, Bayonne. This town is also famous for its ham and for inventing the bayonet. It was the first town in France to import chocolate from the new world but it was the Jewish community expelled from Spain who first made drinking chocolate, a taste which Louis XIV took with him to Versailles. Small cups of drinking chocolate are made so thick that you can turn the cup round 360' quickly without spilling a drop! This provided a good caffeine fix for a busy afternoon.
