After the climb of the legendary Aubisque we leave the High Pyrenees. The Atlantic Pyrenees also have their charm. We dive into the Basque Country.
The Basques, another proud people who don’t just want to be spanish guys. Their language, the basque, is fascinating. It has no similarities with any other language. Children can go to bilingual schools from kindergarten age on (see title picture).
We made it! Crosses the Pyrenees, arrived at the Atlantic coast: St.-Jean-de-Luz
The Basque Country, high season, the campsites are full. South of St-Jean-de-Luz we get the last campsite without electricity at the Corniche.
We ride via Hendaye back to Spain.
We continue west, over roads and nameless passes, with asphalt that is extra rough so that you do not roll back when climbing up. There is no one here who applauds, no one who is impressed by our performance. Here we just have to push up, in case of doubt, which is no less exhausting. We decide to shorten the stage and drive to the next campsite: Complét. No mercy. We only get a map with the campsites in the Spanish Basque Country. We look for someone else and decide not to call. That would rather lead to a rejection.
It storms and roars. The tent is still secured with a few extra pegs, but actually we feel safe under the tall trees. On the tent meadow surfers, hikers, cyclists. Also many Germans. Funny, we don’t know anyone who goes here. Everyone seems to get a place here. We have fried egg baguette, coffee, cold beer and soda. Everything tastes fantastic.
Continue towards Bilbao. Fourty kilometers before Bilbao we get hold of and book a room close to the center, leave the targeted campsite and cycle directly into the city. Shortly before 8pm we are there, right on the river, overlooking the Guggenheim Museum, on the ground floor. Perfect! After a shower we find in the next side street ‘our bar’, Bar Bilba. Two draughts, two snacks and then two more – then it goes again. In the morning the breakfast, in the evening again two draughts and dos pintxos, that’s the name of the snacks here.
A whole day in Bilbao with countless bars, the multicultural atmosphere, great museums! After 55 days in a row in the tent and in nature, we enjoy the luxury of a room with bed, bathroom and soft bath towels to the fullest. Rolf is brave and goes to one of the numerous barbershops – the hairstyle lasts for a while.
The host of our Bar Bilba is heartfelt. On the second evening all pintxos (Basque snacks) are sold. He conjures up two ham baguettes and confirms the great quality of this topping more than once. The next morning there is the farewell breakfast with homemade torrijas, the Spanish version of cinnamon rolls.
We leave when it’s most beautiful. We cycle towards the coast. At a crossroads out of town we meet Juan Carlos on his mountainbike. He leads us a few kilometers. He lives here, knows the area like the back of his hand, has great tips for us and we all have fun together. He tells us about the blogs of the travel cyclists he follows and so we can leave him with our map and our blog a memory. Overnight in Laredo, Spanish mass tourism on the Atlantic. We are happy about a place for us and our tent. Swimming in the Atlantic with great waves. In the evening pasta with tomato sauce. All good.