George & Mostyn - Walking the GR10

Sunday, 17th September 2006

George: We got up at 7:15, packed our things and had breakfast. The day was much better - no rain and some blue sky visible. The walk up towards La Rhune from the gîte was quite steep but we enjoyed not having to contend with the rain. We saw about a dozen Vultures together with some Ravens and, I think, some Choughs during the climb.

The GR10 crossed the rack railway up La Rhune and we saw, and photographed, the train on its way down the mountain.

The walk down into Sare was quite long and, towards the end, tedious. Sare was an attractive village. We had Axoa for lunch at a café. While we were eating lunch there was a short rain shower.

We walked up out of Sare to the Venta at Berouet where we had a beer served by a Spanish looking waitress that Mostyn fancied!

The path from there followed the border for a while, quite up and down and then by a stream through oak woods. It was a nice path but we were both quite tired by the time we reached Aïnhoa at about 5:30. The village is very picturesque with lots of typical Basque buildings.

After showers and washing clothes, we walked into the village stopping to take a look at the church. As is typical of Basque churches, it had several galleries and a highly decorated altarpiece and ceiling. The cemetery surrounded the church, quite unlike churches in Languedoc.

We had a very good meal at the only restaurant open. I had peppers with anchovies followed by duck cannelloni. Mostyn had Serrano ham with pickled chillies and the same main course. We walked back to the hotel for much needed sleep.

Mostyn: The walk started with a long climb on paths that had been flooded. The weather was dry but humid. From the Col des Trois Fontaines, to our right, we could see La Rhune, a mountain rising to a height of 900m, the peak of which was constantly hidden by cloud cover. On the crest of the Col des Trois Fontaines we came upon a rack railway, the Chemin de Fer de la Rhune. This was a small distraction and photo opportunity before we descended to the village of Sare, which was to be our lunch break destination. We encountered the only rain of the day in Sare while we were having our lunch - perfect timing. The four hours walking from Sare to Aïnhoa was uneventful, although it was more undulating than we were led to believe from the guidebook. We did stop at a venta in attempt to buy some chocolate, but like the previous ones we encountered it sold only cheap alcohol and cigarettes.

On arrival at Aïnhoa we found our accommodation, Hotel Oppoca. En route to the restaurant for our evening meal we visited an interesting Basque Church. Our meal was excellent, but a little over budget.