Day 16 - Toro de Fuego

It was a relatively cool morning for us to pack up all our gear for the next leg of our trip. It was all pretty drama free. I even had time to drive to the Boulangerie to buy a baguette for breakfast.

My breakfast consisted of 3 large cold Toulouse sausages cooked a couple of nights ago and 3/4 of the baguette. Jackie had the other 1/4.

At 11.40am, we departed Camping Beau Rivage and set the SatNav for Biarritz just an hour and twenty minutes away.

Our cross country route took us through some pretty little villages and past the ruins of Le Chateau de Gramont, a castle built between the 14th and 15th century in the town of Bidache.

On the outskirts of Bayonne, we followed the Adour river and at first we saw tents pitched at the side of the road and then on roundabouts. As we continued we couldn’t but notice that nearly everyone was dressed in the Basque uniform, white with red adornments such as neckerchiefs, sashes etc.

They were all heading towards an area beside the river where marquees were set up. I asked Jackie to take some photos of the Basque festival goers as I negotiated the busy traffic. It didn’t go well. We have photos of lampposts, bus stops, her knee, but no-one in red and white.

We continued on to Biarritz and located the impressive Hôtel du Palais, then drove alongside the Grande Plage (Beach) desperately trying to not run over any of the throngs of semi naked people everywhere. I managed to stop long enough to jump out of the car, take a photo of the heaving beach, then drive on southwards to Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

It was a lovely 20 minute coastal drive before stopping outside the delightfully French Hotel La Marisa at 2.04pm. Frederick, our very gay owner fussed over us and got me to park in their garage.

Frederick informed us that there was a Basque Festival (as per the description below) tonight in the town which he recommended we attend.

‘Concert d'Alaiak (Basque men's choir) – Toro de Fuego and confetti battle: This traditional evening takes place on Place Louis XIV starting at 9:30 PM. It features a festive Basque men's choir and includes a confetti battle starting at 9 PM, with bags available for purchase. The "Toro de Fuego," a unique pyrotechnic show with music, will happen around 10:30 PM’.

After being shown to our room 202, by presumably Frederick’s equally gay boyfriend/husband, we dropped our luggage off and headed out,

30 yards up the road we arrived at the busy beach and located a bar with outside tables. We enjoyed a cold refreshing pint of Stella Artois each.

We then walked along the promenade to a quirky little lighthouse at the entrance to the port. We continued on around the port and found Place Louis XIV, where tonight’s festivities were due to take place. It was a circular bandstand in a large courtyard of bars and restaurants.

We sat down at Bar Le Majestic for another beer and we ordered a cheeky pâté dish to share. We then strolled through the pedestrianised historic streets.

We stopped at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church with its gilded baroque altarpiece and wooden galleries, Jackie lit a candle for her mum.

This church is also where one of the most important political marriages in history took place. On June 9, 1660 King Louis XIV married Marie-Thérèse of Spain in the cathedral of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, thus ending a long and bitter war between France and Spain.

We returned to our hotel just before 5pm and went to bed for 2 hours. At 7pm we got ready for a night of festivities. Saint-Jean-de-Luz has its own Basque uniform of red and black, so I wore a red t-shirt and black shorts to mark the occasion. It turned out I was literally the only person in red and black that night!!

We sat down for dinner at a table in the square outside the Cosmopolitan Bar/Restaurant. We ordered a couple of beers then selected a couple of specials. I ordered Confit de canard, frites (Duck & chips) & sauce tartare. Jackie ordered the ‘catch of the day’ - Sea Bass with bierre blanc sauce, rice and roasted vegetables. It turned out to be gorgeous food in a vibrant setting.

At 9.15pm, having paid up and headed to Place Louis XIV, when the choir were getting ready. Amazingly we found a free table for two in the front row back at Bar Le Majestic, as crowds were gathering.

We ordered a bottle of Bordeaux, the cheapest bottle on the menu at €24. The Bordeaux was a bit ropey, but at 9.30pm we were distracted by the choir in the bandstand who sprang into action. First things first, I would describe the choir more as a Celtic band, not too dissimilar to The Pogues or The Men They Couldn’t Hang with guitars and accordions. They were fantastic and even played some tunes that we recognised.

At the same time, behind the bandstand, the kids went crazy with their confetti fight. It was a wonderful evening of people singing, dancing and generally having a good time. It was also lovely to witness teenagers enjoying themselves without any mobile phones, yobbery or vapes.

It was not long before we had emptied our bottle of Bordeaux, so we ordered a Rioja at €32, which was much more palatable.

At 10.30pm, the star of the show appeared in the form of Toro de Fuego, a metal bull that was pushed around the bandstand with fireworks emanating from it followed by a cacophony of noise as hundreds of bangers exploded.

Toro de Fuego disappeared whereupon a conga line danced around the bandstand while the band continued playing until 11.30pm.

It was a brilliant night. We definitely had one of the best seats to watch the festivities. It felt a privilege to witness.

Song of the Day - Fiesta by The Pogues.Read more