St. Jean de Luz, France
After having traveled north most of the night, we awoke at the entrance to the breakwater of this small town in the French Corniche, or the Cote Basque. For centuries this has been a whaling and cod fishing port, served well by a numerous fleet of sturdy ships. It remains one of the busiest fishing ports of France, and the principal port for landing tuna and anchovy.
The fine sandy beaches front a series of magnificent seventeenth and eighteenth century houses, owned at the time by wealthy merchants and shipowners. One of the great houses a little further in, facing the square of the town, is the turreted Maison Louis XIV. It was built for the ship-owning Lohobiague family in 1635, being called that for the fact that young king Louis stayed here in 1640 for the preparations of his marriage to the Infanta of Castille, Maria Teresa. The wedding took place in the church of St.-Jean -Baptiste. The extravagance of the wedding defied belief: Cardinal Mazarin alone presented the queen with 12,000 pounds of pearls and diamonds, a gold dinner service and a pair of incredible carriages. The church itself is large and has three tiers of dark oak galleries.
After visiting the church, we walked on to the interesting local market. Here we had the opportunity of seeing a specialty of the area, sheep cheese, as well as a great quantity of different fresh fish.
After this tour, we walked back to the central square, where we enjoyed a good cup of hot chocolate. St.-Jean de Luz was the French port through which chocolate entered France, beginning with the Spanish wife of the Sun-King. Lunch followed on the ship, but quite a few of us had lunch in town.
During the afternoon we took a bus to nearby Bayonne, the effective economic and political capital of the Pays Basque. The city's origins go back to Roman times. For 300 years until 1451, it was a very prosperous and secure city, while in the hands of England. Around 1500, Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition arrived to the city, bringing their chocolate manufacturing trade with them that, together with the armament business (the bayonet was developed here) took the city to its eventual economic success. Back in St.Jean de Luz, we boarded our ship, and set off north, while we had our daily recap and dinner.
After having traveled north most of the night, we awoke at the entrance to the breakwater of this small town in the French Corniche, or the Cote Basque. For centuries this has been a whaling and cod fishing port, served well by a numerous fleet of sturdy ships. It remains one of the busiest fishing ports of France, and the principal port for landing tuna and anchovy.
The fine sandy beaches front a series of magnificent seventeenth and eighteenth century houses, owned at the time by wealthy merchants and shipowners. One of the great houses a little further in, facing the square of the town, is the turreted Maison Louis XIV. It was built for the ship-owning Lohobiague family in 1635, being called that for the fact that young king Louis stayed here in 1640 for the preparations of his marriage to the Infanta of Castille, Maria Teresa. The wedding took place in the church of St.-Jean -Baptiste. The extravagance of the wedding defied belief: Cardinal Mazarin alone presented the queen with 12,000 pounds of pearls and diamonds, a gold dinner service and a pair of incredible carriages. The church itself is large and has three tiers of dark oak galleries.
After visiting the church, we walked on to the interesting local market. Here we had the opportunity of seeing a specialty of the area, sheep cheese, as well as a great quantity of different fresh fish.
After this tour, we walked back to the central square, where we enjoyed a good cup of hot chocolate. St.-Jean de Luz was the French port through which chocolate entered France, beginning with the Spanish wife of the Sun-King. Lunch followed on the ship, but quite a few of us had lunch in town.
During the afternoon we took a bus to nearby Bayonne, the effective economic and political capital of the Pays Basque. The city's origins go back to Roman times. For 300 years until 1451, it was a very prosperous and secure city, while in the hands of England. Around 1500, Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition arrived to the city, bringing their chocolate manufacturing trade with them that, together with the armament business (the bayonet was developed here) took the city to its eventual economic success. Back in St.Jean de Luz, we boarded our ship, and set off north, while we had our daily recap and dinner.
