Theme Week Basque Country – Mauléon-Licharre

27 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Tangopaso

© Tangopaso

Mauléon-Licharre (Basque: Maule-Lextarre; Occitan: Maulion e Lisharra) is a French commune with 2,954 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2021) in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Basque part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (before 2016: Aquitaine). The two towns only united into one municipality in 1841.   read more…

Theme Week Basque Country – Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

25 April 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

© W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0

© W. Bulach/cc-by-sa-4.0

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (literally “Saint John [at the] Foot of [the] Pass”; Basque: Donibane Garazi; Spanish: San Juan Pie de Puerto) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It is close to Ostabat in the Pyrenean foothills. The town is also the old capital of the traditional Basque province of Lower Navarre. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is also a starting point for the French Way Camino Francés, the most popular option for travelling the Camino de Santiago. In 1998, the Porte St-Jacques (city gate) was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as part of the sites along the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.   read more…

Hôtel du Palais Biarritz

1 January 2024 | Author/Destination: | Category: General, House of the Month, Hotels Reading Time:  11 minutes

© flickr.com - Dennis Jarvis/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Dennis Jarvis/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Hôtel du Palais Biarritz is a historic luxury hotel beside the Atlantic beach in the resort town of Biarritz, on the Côte Basque in the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It was originally built for the Empress Eugénie around 1855 as a summer villa. It was due to the visits of the imperial couple that the village of Biarritz developed into a fashionable resort. In 1880, the villa was sold and converted into a hotel casino. It was devastated by fire in 1903, but was lavishly rebuilt and enlarged within the original walls. For many years the hotel attracted the international elite, including members of the European royalty such as King Edward VII, who paid several extended visits. Although the hotel later fell into disrepair, and closed for a period in the 1950s, it has since been refurbished and is again a luxury hotel. The hotel is managed by Hyatt.   read more…

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