Perfect day in Bayonne

What a lovely day! Weather gorgeous and the town alive and sparkling. I don’t think I mentioned before that we have arrived just at the time of the Foire au Jambon - the ham festival…a weird coincidence as last time, in October 2021, it was also the annual ham festival…but now realise that in 2021 it was probably postponed from April till October because of covid? That is my theory…anyway, what a bonus, as the place buzzes, and it is all about jambon- the ham like prosciutto, not like what we have in sandwiches!

Today is also the day of the strike, which is why we avoided the train journey today, and there was a loud and long march through the town at about 10.30, protesting about the retirement age changes…but after that I suspect the marchers went on to join in the ham festivities! We all went to the centre where there are stalls of so many ham producers are showing off their wares…from all around this region. Today is the first day - it continues over the weekend, but today they selected the winning ham of the year.

After that excitement, we wandered separately to explore. So happy that Bayonne is showing off so beautifully for Carole and John who haven’t been here before. Amr and I had fun strolling around - checked out the beautiful cathedral (world heritage site) and cloisters, I had a lemon sugar crepe and we had a drink at a busy bar where there were quite a lot of people dressed in traditional Basque dress, and playing music and singing, all for the festival. Bayonne is French of course, but also Basque with many signs bilingual, and even a touch of Spanish which is very close…they are very conscious of being a special region! And it is!

After a spell of afternoon downtime and reading kindles in a pretty park by the river, we had an early (7pm) dinner. Delicious trout, and John had pork. And we started with pimientos padron and croquettes - our favourite Camino tapas!! All is lovely.Read more