We are writing today from beautiful San Sebastian. The last few days have been amazing. We went from Carcassonne to Les Eyzies on Saturday. It was two short trains and we made it there right on time. The countryside was pretty along the way but I could tell how nervous Sean was when we first pulled into the Les Eyzies station. The town is very small, the guide books say about 800 people. But Sean was pleasantly surprised. We walked from the train station to the bed and breakfast. It was a short walk past a lovely medieval church build in the 1200s.
Right next to the church was the ferme de Tayac, our bed and breakfast. The owners were an older british couple who were very accommodating. Their place was lovely on probably an acre or two with secluded seating all over, kind of a secret garden feel to the land and a beautiful sunny pool in the back. Our room was decent size and modestly furnished with a farmhouse kitsch décor. They served proper English tea and hot coffee for breakfast, each person given their own private pot and all the guests ate together at a large antique wooden table. Les Eyzies is known for its prehistory and apparently foie gras, the only street in town boast 4, that’s right four shoppes dedicated to the sale of foie gras.
About a kilometer out of town is the Fonte de Gaume cave which is last cave in the world open to the public with polychromatic cave paintings. They only let 180 people per day in to see it and our innkeepers got us worried about getting tickets. Most people in the area make reservations but the guidebook I read suggested it was unnecessary in off season. Either way, we got lucky and on Sunday walked the mile from our room to the caves and were able to get tickets right away. The caves were amazing! We had watched the film the Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D earlier this year but seeing cave paintings in person was so much more moving. The cave was a bit cramped and more athletic than I would have expected but there were some amazingly realistic portraits of Bison. Its hard to describe it but it was truly magical and reading the last Jean Auel book on the train and plane really got me in the mood. This last book is about Ayla touring the sacred caves of her people on a spiritual tour and it felt very similar being there.
The next day, Monday we went on a 6 mile canoe trip down the Verieze. From the canoe we could see a lot of the sights in the area including a medieval town built into the side of a cliff. It was a great team building exercise and truthfully there were a few tense moments when we got stuck in a sandbar but we made it the whole way in about 3 hours and had a good time. After canoeing we went to the prehistory museum in Les Eyzies. I had seen several well made brochures but had assumed given the size, age and ruralness of the town that it would be older and small but that was not the case. The museum was very state of the art and the exhibits were well laid out and they even had English guides.
We went out that night to dinner, most of the trip we tried to eat light either sandwiches or pick up meat and cheese from the market and had picnics. We only had two proper meals in Les Eyzies, one lunch and one dinner. Both were good but the dinner was a bit comical. Everyone talks about how large American portions are but they clearly have never eaten at the Café de la Maria. Like most of Europe they offer 3-5 course menus for a fixed price. So we each chose a menu. Sean and I both got salads as our first course and they were huge. The size of a proper entrée salad in the US. Sean had smoked salmon on his and mine had both duck and foie gras. It was not my intention to eat fois gras especially after already having tried duck liver pate in Spain. But it turns out that foie gras is actual slices of duck liver and its delicious. After the giant salad, our actual entrees came out, a medium rare steak for me and duck for Sean. The portions once again were huge and there was no way we could eat the whole meal and still have room for cheese and dessert. So we asked for a box, I doubled checked in the French phrase book and asked “Un boit sil vous plait?” The woman gave me a blank look and I gestured for a box. She said “Take out?” and I was like yeah. She gave me a worried look and then said one moment. After a while she returned with a freshly washed empty carton of ice cream. That’s right an ice cream carton. Apparently the idea of taking something home in a box is totally foreign and the restaurant did the best they could to accommodate our strange request. Not sure I will ever look at an ice cream container the same way. Even with taking most of the entrée to go, the meal was huge and we were full.
We were able to accomplish a lot in Les Eyzies in two days even without a car but I can see how people could easily spend a week or two in the area. There is so much to see if you are into history or just beautiful places. On Tuesday we took 4 trains and one bus to get from Les Eyzies to San Sebastian, Spain. It was one of the most beautiful train rides as we came down the coast and despite having a lot of changes went seamlessly. Our apartment in San Sebastian is more than we could have hoped for. We choose it for the great location and the price. It was several hundred dollars cheaper than most comparable options but we knew it didn’t have some typical American creature comforts such as wifi, air conditioning or an elevator (for a third floor unit). But what we got has been phenomenal.
The apartment is a good size about 500 square feet and recently updated. It has all new appliances and our dream bathroom even if it’s a bit on the small side and next to the kitchen (HATE that). The place has worked out great, good exercise climbing the 3 floors of steep stairs, making fresh orange juice each morning from the juicers, two blocks from the main market, and two blocks from the sea. We even have a water view out our tiny Juliet balconies that line the entire apartment.
In San Sebastian we have mainly relaxed, we walk the beach. Go to the market. Last night Sean cooked an amazing lamb stew with fresh local ingredients and tonight we plan to go out for a proper dinner. Most food here is served on toothpicks in bars and are called pintxos. They use fresh local ingredients including a lot of seafood, they are delicious and only a few dollars each but eating in a bar is not the same as a nice sit down restaurant.
This morning we got up and climbed a small Mountain that has a lot of historic structures on it including a giant statue of Jesus. At the top of the mountain is a castle that houses a museum about the city of San Sebastian as well as various military structures from the 1700-1900s. Tomorrow we plan to take a bus to Bilboa and visit the Guggenheim museum. It has been an amazing trip so far and as much as I try to write in detail it is impossible to relay so much of the splendor or feel of the places we have seen and experienced.
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