Oteiza, ham from the Kintoa territory

I am a sucker for pigs. No not really, but I love seeing things I eat BEFORE I eat them...  The Kintoa region got its name Pays de Quint or Kintoa in Basque, from the Spanish word quinta. La quinta was the fifth of each herd the Navarra kings took as a tax.... remember that when you complain about paying too high taxes!

Here in the Kintoa valley around Aldudes has Pierre Oteiza set down his foot and created an empire mostly based on ham. His pigs are of the race Pie Noir, the Basque pig, and roam freely to eat whatever they find in this rich region; like acorns, chestnuts and beechnuts.... They are fed til at least 12-14 months and by then they weigh 140-160 kilos! The resulting ham won a gold medal at the Concours General Agricole in Paris 2010 so the idea of make good ham out of happy pigs seem to stand true.

We went to his shop and the pig nursery. They have also a walk of about one hour up in the mountain where you can watch the pigs and learn more but we had to save that to another time... I would also want to come back to Banca close to Aldudes, where they breed the famous mountain trout or visit any of the many cheese makers... next time, next time!

Inside the shop. Try this saucisson... and this one... and the chorizo.. and this ham.. and that ham... and have a piece of this cheese.. and that cheese... Did you try this? I LOVE places where they let you try... so of course we were loaded by the time we left. We even got some fig jam that they didn't even let us try!

Dried Espelette peppers.

Take-away on the go snacks!!!!

Some of their stuff and the red gold medal.

 

Pig mummy relaxing in the sun. The Basque pig race was almost extinct when Oteiza started breeding them in 1988.

Bye bye... next stop Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port!!!

The mountains around Saint Etienne de Baïgorry

The Basque country is more known for its coast but the inner parts have an authentic beauty and culture that is more than well worth knowing. Mid november and the temperature is above 20... and we left the kids at home with a baby sitter... Life is more than sweet. Only one problem: why do we only have one day to spend here? Must plan coming back very very soon!



My husband stopped many many times so that I could take one more photo... the green rolling hills, the lush valleys and the typical houses...

... and the sheep and the cows... a living agricultural landscape!

The Domaine de Brana, an Irouléguy wine and liquor and eaux-de-vie producer. They have tastings in the 'house' you see on the photo... we decided to skip the wines this time but I really wanted to stop at the Cave Irouléguy in Saint Etienne de Baïgorry....

Our first stop was at the Bar du Fronton in Saint Etienne de Baïgorry. Empty outside but when we pushed the door open... it was full.

  

We had to wait by the bar for 15 minutes. Just the time to have a yellow (pastis) for my husband and a  Txapa for me, a mix of wine and red fruit liqueur. Cosy and easy going place. We felt good being there.

I had lamb with salad, chips and cheese. Simple and good. My husband had lomo, a kind of ham, egg and salad. A bit of local red wine, Irouléguy. Then we were ready to head south, towards Aldudes...

Incredible....

... how much rain there can be. It has been pouring down for three days straight now.  Pouring!! And the wind has been howling and the thunder has thundered.... I'm gonna make some more tea. And read another book.

Deep Purple dinosaurs in concert in Bordeaux

Hearing Smoke on the Water still make me emotional so of course I wanted to go see them at the Patinoire Meriadeck in Bordeaux. Not the wild young things anymore, nor their audience. We were pretty much in the average age around 40 I think... except next to me was a young girl and her mother. The girl had just turned 18 and the concert was a birthday gift from her mother. She couldn't sit still and kept saying oh my god, oh my god, is this for real...  and when she hacked away at her mobile during the first song to send a scream to someone, I got a bit worried. But she behaved and we could all enjoy a heavy symphonic metal concert.... I think it was real good but the singer did show some signs of age... I am very happy to have seen them in concert!

The band playing before them was great too; Puggy a Belgian group with a British singer and a Swedish drummer. They have their own concert at Rock School Barbey in Bordeaux on the 26th of November.

A walk around Lac de Cristus

In the beginning of the week we went here for a stroll around the lake in St-Paul-lès-Dax. A bike race was running through the parc, weather was sunny and nice.... (and we had hamburgers at Quick... not my choice but two out of three were happy...)

Birthday concert in Linxe

I would have loved to do what Virginie just did. She celebrated her 40th birthday with a party and a live concert! She sang and played the bass with her guitarplaying husband and a digital drummer. And all the songs were their own! Hats off the the courage and the creativity!

Scooby Doo still rocks!

Isn't it incredible that my own childhood favorite TV program now is the favorite of my own kids?!! I LOVED Scooby and as I watched some this morning with my children I think he has aged pretty well. The monsters are scary but not too much because we all know it is just the mean guy dressed up... Scooby is always hungry and Freds' plans never really works as planned.

They also like The Pink Panther, another of my childhood favorites... still going strong with almost no words and alot of corny humour!