By meaggymurphy
The border between France and Spain is less than an hour from Pamplona, so I knew I wouldn't be able to leave without taking at least one trip there. I got my chance last weekend, and it definitely expanded my view of Spain and the region I live in.
The friends who I went with thought it was the funniest thing ever that I had brought my passport to cross the border... How was I supposed to know that there is zero border control to enter France from Spain?! The ease at which people can move between the two countries surprised me, but it explains the influence that France has had on northern Spain, as well as that of Spain on southern France.
Upon arrival in Biarritz, France, everyone seemed to speak both French and Spanish. The city itself is a picturesque town situated by the ocean, and reminded me of San Sebastian (in northern Spain) for its architecture and vacation-y feel. The restaurant we stopped in for lunch was serving gazpacho and paella, which are definitely Spanish inventions. The second city we visited, Saint Jean de Luz, was similar in that it was a sunny, charming resort town by the beach.
Despite the similarities I saw between this region of southern France and Spain, I was still able to have my French experience. We stopped for crepes, and I refused to reenter Spain without first buying real French macaroons (this caused us a bit of a detour, but our persistence in the search of macaroons was not in vain, and I returned to Pamplona with a bag of the bright, multi-colored sweets). One of my friends speaks French, so she was appointed Designated Translator and I was able to ask her what everything meant. At one point, we were sitting in a square and realized how quiet it was, despite being full of people. Looking around, everyone was sitting at little cafe tables, contentedly having an espresso or leisurely reading a newspaper or eating a crepe. One guy was even wearing a beret! I don't think I've ever seen a scene so stereotypically French in my life. It was nice to sit there in the midst of so much Frenchness and walk away from it hoping to have soaked up some of the calm classiness of it all.
We spent the day strolling around the streets, window shopping and walking by the water. We stumbled upon a wedding party outside of a church, an outdoor concert, and little parks and monuments throughout both cities. It was a very relaxing day of exploring, and I was glad to have gone not at the height of tourist season. It was beautiful, and seeing how close Pamplona and France really are helped me to understand a bit more about the French influences in northern Spain. At the end of the day, I got to check off "Go to France" from my bucket list, although I hope that it won't be my first and only visit!