Thursday - Bayonne-St Jean de Luz
Blister having now gone down, up early and off along Nive towpath. 3 paths created by the Pyrenées-Atlantique Amis run along here: to Hendaye, to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and direct to Pamplona via the Baztan. Officially they start at the cathedral, but the marking does not start until further out. I decided to take the coastal one to Hendaye, on the assumption it would be cooler by the coast. Judging from what I saw, the paths are all well-marked. Sketch maps and descriptions on their website.
The coast path soon leaves the river and heads W towards the airport and Biarritz station. This is largely along roads at first, including a very nasty bit where you have to cross over the main ring road, particularly bad for me as I hit the rush hour. There’s a pleasant bit along the airport perimeter fence (the opposite side of the airport from the terminal buildings), and then some more roadside walking before some quieter lanes. Eventually you get out of the Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz conurbation.
Just before Bidart is the only bit that’s actually near the coast - very hazy when I was there because of the heat, starting to build again after the early morning mist had dissipated.
Bidart has a typical Basque church, with 3 wooden galleries and a model ship hanging from the ceiling. It also has a wooden statue of St James, though I suspect this is a later addition. Bidart also has a pilgrimage chapel of St Catherine, though I did not visit this.
The route heads inland at Bidart, and follows a mixture of quiet lanes and tracks past some posh villas. At one point, the marking was absent, but I continued in the general direction and eventually found it again. Heard an oriole here; first time I’ve heard one of those for a long time.
The marked route follows the river estuary into St-Jean, but it might be more ‘authentic’ to arrive on the road and enter the old town via the Rue St Jacques.
Quite a short day by my standards (28km officially) but glad to get out of the heat and into a hotel room for a good soak in a bath. Hotels in St-Jean, a touristy place, rather on the pricey side. Plenty of good restaurants to choose from, and still hot at 10 in the evening.
St Jean too has a typical Basque church, one of the largest, also with galleries and a ship hanging from the ceiling. This is where Louis XIV was married.