St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Socoa

July 18, 2016

I got up early to leave early, ahead of the heat. I'd heard the forecast was for very hot today and hotter yet tomorrow.

I was rolling out shortly after 7 and there was a stream of Camino walkers leaving town too, though they were going in a different direction. I took D 15 to St-Etienne-de-Baïgorry, where I stopped for coffee at the first open café I'd seen. It was also the first to have a sign about not consuming outside food so I drank my café au lait and then moved to a bench outside the tourist office to use their wifi and eat the pastry I'd bought as the market was setting up in St-Jean-Pied-de-Port. From St-Etienne I took the D 948 north to the now-much-busier D 918 and stayed on it all the way to Itxassou. I should have gotten off at Bidarray and taken D 349 but didn't notice until much too late. At least the hills had gentler grades, even if there was more traffic.

I took quiet (and steep) roads through Espelette, over Col de Pinodiéta, and on to Sare. Just before Sare my Garmin shut itself off again. I stopped for lunch in Sare and then let the Garmin direct me to Ascain. It routed me by a back route to Col de St-Ignace, often directing me the wrong way on one-way roads, first to leave Sare and then out in the countryside. I returned to D 4 just at the parking area for "le petit train" up to La Rhune (3 stars on my Michelin map). If there hadn't been such a long lineup I might have looked into it, but as it was, I passed by.

From Ascain I took the quiet road to Ciboure, along the west side of the Nivelle River. I had thought this would be an easier way into St-Jean-de-Luz than the D 918, but maybe not. It seems there is on,y one bridge between Ciboure on the southwest side of the river and St-Jean-de-Luz on the northeast. The bridge wasn't too bad, but making the left turn into St-Jean-de-Luz was impossible. I had to continue on the very busy road to the next traffic circle (at D 918) and go right around the circle to be on the other side of the road to make a right turn into the centre of town and find the tourist office.

I inquired about hotels, thinking it might be nice to stay in town, but the least expensive was almost 100€! Okay, glad I have a tent. But the municipal camping in St-Jean-de-Luz would require returning to that scary very-busy road so I opted instead to camp on the Ciboure side. Actually, past Ciboure in Socoa. The tourist office only mentioned these two campings to me, even though their map included others.

The campground was up above Socoa, at the beginning of the road along the Corniche Basque. Thankfully, most of the sites had shade and there was also a footpath to the town and its beach so it would not be necessary to ride up the hill again, destroying the effect of my swim. I had to swim in the Atlantic! I returned to Socoa for a splurge dinner. The offerings I saw were all either pizza or expensive and I didn't want pizza. The restaurant didn't have pichets of wine either so I ordered a half-bottle of Juraçon, a name I'd seen on many wine lists. Looking back, it would have been better to have a glass of white with my salad and a red with the veal dish, but then "veau" was the only word I recognized and I wasn't expecting a tomato-based stew!

My treat to myself. Camping plus this was still way less than a hotel in St-Jean-de-Luz.

Salade Basque. As delicious as it looks.

Moelleux au chocolate maison. I restrained myself from licking the plate!

Fort de Socoa with its protected harbour. I am standing near the restaurant to take this and the open sea is beyond the fort.

The harbour goes dry at low tide. I watched a couple of guys haul their dingy across the mud.

A few of the boats are floating. That pink one really stands out!

Distance 81 km

Another recreated route...at least as far as Sare.

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Today's ride: 81 km (50 miles)
Total: 1,223 km (759 miles)

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