Ainhoa, Espelette and St Jean Pied de Port

Well mon petit fromages, we have had a lovely day today.  On our way to St Jean Pied de Port we travelled through Ainhoa and Espelette.  Ainhoa is claimed (by them!) to be the prettiest village in France..........either way it was nice to see.....


As we arrived they were preparing a fete..

Then we saw THIS fly overhead (think it might be a Griffon Vulture)

And a very proud Basque gentleman man showing his prize winning 'Palmare' horse

Then we drove to Espelette which is Famed for it's red chillies.  The chillies are hung outside the houses to dry.....

After a little wander around the village we continued our journey to St Jean Pied de Port.  The reason for coming here is to visit the Monday market which is supposed to be the biggest and best in the Basque region!  (EDIT: went to the market on Monday....dissapointing!)  So this afternoon we wandered around to check out the village.

Ya ya ya , Blah blah blah (me on the phone)

Nice little weir

The older houses have the name and date of the original family who lived there above the doorway

The old town high street (cobbled and steep, feel sorry for the horse and carts!)

A Phone Foon! (to Gromit in England)

St Jean Pied de Port is one of the starting points along the 'Santiago de Compostela way'

Nice bridge! (excellent foon haha)