Lindsey, newsletter # 88
Biarritz, Tuesday 3rd August, 1600
Jill visited us straight after our trip to England. The weather went from horribly hot (and no, I am not speaking of England here) to wet and cold. I used the days to finish off different bits of work.
Work has been complicated. The one thing I have learnt over the past months is that you start by having a problem but very rapidly become the problem. I obviously didn’t have to suffer as much as other partners I met in the hospital who in at least two cases ended up losing their jobs as they no longer were able to give the performance they used to. But the system does try to eliminate you. Excuses of all sorts are used, but no pity.
The nice bit has been that we were counting the days to go on holidays.
And on Saturday 29th we were off. The first trip was simple: down to Fromentine, less than an hour away, where we met up with Ulli and Jacques, and Jacques mother “Mémie”. From there the boat to the island of Yeu. Pictures of the island are in the Blog a few weeks ago (on the first of May we were there). Vikki and Fabien were very kind with us and Fabien even let us have his car. This resulted in me being stopped by the police while bringing some lobsters to the fridge.
We stayed for 2 nights at the Hotel des voyageurs, which is situated next to the port. And we had a lovely time, entertained by Ulli and Jacques: a lot of (excellent) food, some walks, a bit of swimming and great conversations.
We left the Ile d’Yeu on Monday the 31st and drove down to Biarritz. This was supposed to be a 5 hour drive but took close to 8. A lot of traffic and getting lost quite a bit. Our car is now so old, and the navigation system seems to have maps dating from the past century!
In Biarritz we were greeted by Maria Jesus and Manolo who had waited for us before getting back to Zamora. It was lovely to see them again!
Lindsey newsletter # 89
Biarritz, Wednesday 16th August, 1400. Dia de San Roque
One year ago today we were flying back from Korea…
The preliminary remarks for this entry are the following:
- The entry is unfairly balanced: I have a lot of pictures covering one part, hardly any covering the other. It possibly is due to having more time to take pictures
- There are several food pictures. Admittedly, food is important for us. Specially right now. Because of Pancreas trouble, Lindsey has to be very careful with what she eats. This means spending a lot of time looking for things that are both delicious or safe. Anyhow, there are several pictures with food. So yes, it is a key issue!
- I wanted to blame work for being late in writing things in the blog. But now it appears clearly that work cannot be blamed as work has not been an issue for the past 2 weeks.
We got to Biarritz and enjoyed more than a week there. Solitude (ie being two) only lasted less than 12 hours as Julie, Ian, Brook and Alfie arrived from London on the first of August. We brought them to our « usual spots »: the ferry to Hondarribia, the trip to Bayonne (with now the stop at the great Asian shop they had there). But also a lot of beach. The boys learnt to surf, we walked a lot.
The highlight (at least for Lindsey and I because I suspect that it was quad noising in the Basque valleys for others 😉 was a climb to the Rhune and lunch at the Yasola.
Technically, Lindsey, Julie and I only walked up to the Yasola, while the boys –including Boris who had arrived by then went to the top and then down to the Yasola.
The Yasola is a « venta ». It is placed 20 steps into Spain. In the old days these places would be used for smuggling. Now, it is a restaurant serving cordero (lamb) and some great omelettes.
Julie and co left on the 9th.
We drove to Morales on the next day.
Morales has always been an important place for us. In the past months Lindsey got many direct and indirect messages of love and support from Morales. It mattered therefore a lot that we could make the trip.
In Morales people were thrilled to see Lindsey. Interestingly between the more enthusiastic were (some of) the bar owners who were so pleased to have Lindsey there.
In Morales the fiestas take place in August. And that can be fun but also noisy and exhausting. So we only travelled with the intention of staying 4 days and coming back on the 15th. The 15th is an important day, called el dia de nuestra señora. It is the day where an important mass takes place, where my father would go and participate to the wine tasting competition which inevitably would finish way past 3 o’clock, involving everyone to wait for his return to start lunch. Everyone would mean a party of about 30 of us who would wear their best clothes and eat together in el cuarto, the place we built at the turn of the century for that.
In the evening, when possible, we put a table out, drink wine with the meat which has been gently cooked on the vine shoots. And look at the sky, count the shooting stars.
Morales is also the place where the spitfire is kept, brilliantly looked after by Jesus.
Every day in Morales, before it became too hot, Lindsey and I would go off in the spitfire for a drive down the small roads, at 70km/h, taking in the scenery, stopping in the small villages. The spitfire is of course an easy way to start a conversation in every village we stop. There are also the chances of seeing remote villages, old churches and a lot of wild life.
One of our first stops was in Villavieja del Cerro. I have been able to trace back de la Higuera’s living there in the early 16th century, so it was great to be allowed in the church which dates from that period.
As Lindsey put it on the last day: “can we just drive off?”
Lindsey newsletter # 90
Nantes, Thursday 30th August, 20-00.
After 3 days rest in Biarritz Lindsey and I left for Cantabria on Friday 18th.
We had rented a large house in a place called Hazas de Cesto, about 10km from the sea and at the foot of the mountains.
Cantabria is a region of the North of Spain, stuck between the Basque country and Asturias. It is known as green and mountainous and very much a place for food lovers.
The plan was that Juanma and Rosa, Jesus and Merche were supposed to drive up in the afternoon to open the house. Lindsey and I were to have a later start, pick up Luisa and Jose at Bilbao airport and arrive for a very late dinner.
The plan failed rapidly as our friends from Alicante misread the time of their flight which they then missed. They decided to rent a car and drive all night. We laughed about this at a later stage but in the moment it was bad news.
So Lindsey and I drove directly to the house where we had a great first evening, using the barbecue for some pork, sausages and morcilla (the Spanish version of black pudding, with the difference that each region has its own… the Burgos one being the one I prefer).
Eventually, Jose and Luis arrived at 4 in the morning but found the wrong house into which they nevertheless marched… it seems the owner was sympathetic and helped them find the real house.
On the Saturday, lunch was in a restaurant in the medieval city of Lierganes. We then drove to the Severiano Ballesteros international airport for Jose and Luisa to drop their car. And from there to the coast. Rocky with huge cliffs and lovely beaches. In the town of Ajo we managed to do some shopping: more meat which was duly grilled in the evening.
Sunday, Casa German for lunch (my red beans were just as good as the chipirones en su tinta I had as a second course, Lindsey preferred Asparagus and meat). In the evening I prepared one of my specialities: barbecued oysters.
Monday, we needed a rest and we made a rice salad. Lindsey spent a lot of time cutting all sorts of vegetables to put in it.
Tuesday we went to Santander market. The excuses was that at that point Luisa was worried that having missed their flight in Alicante, they could be black-listed for the return, so we had to go the Sevy Ballesteros airport again to check (all went fine). I never saw such a fish market as the one in Santander. We chose 4 lobsters and two Tuna (Bonito del norte). I froze some bonito and cooked the lobster which we had for dinner.
Wednesday we had Alubias con almejas: broad white beans with clams would be an approximation. This was produced by Merche and was simply delicious. I will add it to our menu this winter.
Thursday we had the chuletones (T-bones) we had bought a few days ago in the local shop. As an aperitif I produced a plate of Bonito sushi which was lovely. In the morning we had separated into 3 groups. Juanma and Rosa chose the beach; Lindsey Luisa and Merche went to the local village of Escalante where there were fiestas: they seem to have had a great time. Jesus, Jose and I went back to Santoña where we waked all the way round the hill which closes the entrance to the bay. The walk involved getting to two lighthouses, the most impressive being el Faro del caballo which you reach after a steep climb down 740 steps. When you get to the faro you can still go down a little and throw yourself into the crystalline (but cold) waters of the bay. Which we did of course. When reaching Santoña again, we found a bar to eat something, choosing two dozen sardines, some anchovies (of course), pulpo and other wonderful seafood.
Friday we drove to the nearby village of Matienzo. The village is in a valley which doesn’t have a way out. The rivers all end up in a flow and through a system of caves this continues to the next valley. After a nice walk we went back to casa German where we ate cabrito (young goat). Sumptuous. I then felt so full that I decided to walk back. A full 10 miles. Then a swim in the sea and tortilla de patatas (and still some tuna to spare) to finish a great gastronomical week
On Saturday we drove back. A stop in the seaside town of Castro Urdiales and back to France
