Road Trip to Northern Spain and Southern France

As we have done most summers, we decided to take an August trip to get away from the warm temperatures and flocks of tourists in the Algarve.  We chose the northern Spanish region of Cantabria for our first week, and then, we decided to flip over into the Basque region of France for our second week.  

The town of Argoños in Cantabria, Spain

We made the 10-hour drive to Cantabria, taking Ryder with us, of course.  We had chosen the town of Argoños because the internet told us it had a nice dog beach and several excellent restaurants nearby.  The internet was half right, as unfortunately, the town of Noja where the former dog beach was located decided in 2024 to ban dogs during the summer.  Luckily we were able to find another dog beach about 20 minutes away.

The red arrow indicates the location of where dogs were formerly allowed. It's about 1.5 miles from the main beach of Noja, so we have no idea what the problem was.

Oriñón Estuary where dogs are allowed

El Capricho de Gaudí

About about a one-hour drive from Argoños in the town of Comillas is a villa designed by Antoni Gaudí, the famed architect of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.  Named El Capricho (The Whim), the project was built in 1883-1885 for a wealthy client, Máximo Díaz de Quijano, who unfortunately died before ever occupying the villa.  An early work of Gaudí's, El Capricho  showcases some of the design techniques which would become famous later in his career.

Ibidem Restaurant

Located five minutes from where we were staying, Ibidem is a Michelin-recommended restaurant with some flashy, avant garde presentations of Spanish dishes.  

The little faux oranges were actually filled with pate de foie gras

Cenador de Amós

The culinary highlight of the trip was Cenador de Amós, a Michelin three-star restaurant in a nearby town.  In addition to three Michelin stars, the restaurant has received a Michelin green star, an annual award given to restaurants for their outstanding commitment to sustainable gastronomy, combining culinary excellence with industry-leading environmental and ethical standards.  The chef is Jesús Sánchez, and he was nice enough to stop by the table after our meal, which was an early celebration of our 37th wedding anniversary.

The Basque town of Ondres, France

For our second holiday week, we drove another two hours north and east, arriving in the French Basque region and the town of Ondres.  Like in Spain, we chose this town because it was a 5-minute drive from a beach that does allow dogs in the summer.  But after trying Ondres Beach a couple of times, we decided to go a little further north to Labenne Beach, which was nicer and provided easier access.

Our AirBNBs in Spain and France had fenced yards for Ryder.  But the one in France had some neighbors which Ryder hadn't seen before:  chickens.  Luckily, they were on the other side of a sturdy fence.

The Basque Museum in Bayonne

One side trip we took while in France was to the Basque Museum in Bayonne, one of the larger cities in the area.  The museum had many fascinating displays as we learned about the 5,000 years of Basque history in Europe.

The Basque people may be the oldest culture in Europe, and they are genetically distinct from most Europeans with little mixing from external groups like the Romans or Moors.  The mountainous terrain of the Pyrenees provided a degree of natural isolation, helping to preserve their unique culture.  Their ancient language, Euskara, is a language unrelated to any other living language.  Today the majority of the Basque country is in Spain where they are an autonomous community with a certain amount of self-governance.  

​Basque immigration to the US peaked in the mid-1800s following the discovery of gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. The current day descendants of Basque immigrants remain most notably in this area and across the Sierras into the neighboring area of northern Nevada, then northward, into Idaho. 
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Great Food in Spain and France

We enjoy the change of scenery on our summer road trips.  And we really enjoy the different foods we come across.  Some great dishes, like the ones in the fine dining restaurants, are to be expected.  Others, can be quite unexpected.

The Drive Home

After our two-week holiday, we were set to drive back to Portugal, but Mother Nature had some interesting ideas along the way.  Our week in France had been unusually warm, with temperatures rising close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on some days.  This hot weather had had a terrible impact on Spain and Portugal which had their worst fire seasons in over 40 years.  

The highway we were to take back to the Algarve was closed due to fires until the day before we left France.  Luckily, we did not have any problems on our drive, but in some spots we could see smoke and firefighting planes as we drove.

We were glad to arrive home, though our thoughts always turn to our next adventure!

"Where should we go next?"