The day after the cider house visit, Allison and I decided to take a day trip to Hendaye, France. It’s only about 45 minutes by train and costs only 6 euros! The plan originally was to go there to see people practicing a march for Carnival. Traditionally, the Basques were Pagan, so a lot of their culture is centered around nature and the sun. Before modern knowledge about the seasons was established, Basque people thought that around winter time, the earth was dying. This was because, as we know, in the winter the days are shorter and the nights are longer. The ancient Basques believed that in order to save themselves, they needed to wake up the earth. So, around this time of year they would dress up in these costumes and march around with bells strapped to their backs, trying to wake up the sun and the earth.
San Sebastián to the left, Hendaye is the red region on the right
Me, on the train to Hendaye
So when we showed up to Hendaye, we were a little late to the rehearsal. It was easy to find since the city is small and the bells and drums were loud. A few other USAC students actually got to try on the costumes and practice with the Basque people. It didn’t last much longer after we arrived and the people who participated in the rehearsal were eager to leave as soon as it was over. Apparently marching around with bells strapped to your back doesn’t help the cider hangover. Allison and I felt fine thought and decided to explore the town a bit more.
Hendaye was quiet and a lot of the shops and restaurants were closed. There were still a lot of pretty views, however. It took me a moment to figure out that we were actually standing on the other side of the harbor we saw when visiting Hondarribia.
Remember when France was behind me? Now I'm in France and over there is Spain
Comments