St. Jean de Luz

One afternoon we drove to the frontier of France and Spain for a little shopping. They go there when they need to buy certain staples such as ham, certain alcohol and things like that. Then on the way back we stopped at St. Jean de Luz. The countryside is so beautiful. I just love the Basque country.

When we got to St Jean de Luz, we found out that they were in the middle of a triathlon. There were thousands of people there and it was so much fun to watch this part of the race for a while.

At first the beach was almost empty, but it soon filled up with racers and spectators.

These are building and homes that face the ocean. There are bridges that connect to many of the homes.

There are also hotels facing the beach.

Of course all the homes have names.

The harbor on the other side was nice and quiet because everyone was where the action was(at the beach and crowding the streets to get to the beach).

We passed the house where Louis XIV's wife, the crown princess of Spain resided for a while.

This is the doorway that was boarded up right after their marriage. They walked through this doorway into the church and then they didn't want anyone else to walk through it.

Doors to the church.

The little shops at St. Jean de Luz across the street from the church.

Stairs leading into another entrance of the church.

Dinner that night after we got home from our visit.

This thin sliced, cured ham is very popular and we ate it often. They all drive to Spain to buy it.

Tomatoes and peppers were also a regular fare. Also notice the cheese in the back. We ate lots and lots of delicious cheeses.

Mashed potatoes with peppers and sort of an egg roll.

The visit was so nice. The city of St Jean de Luz is very picturesque. We enjoyed it a lot.