St. Jean de Luz is a small coastal town just barely on the French side of the border between Spain and France. The town looks out on the Bay of Biscay and further out, the Atlantic Ocean. St. Jean de Luz is in Basque Country. But what does that mean, exactly?
I’ve been curious about the Basques ever since I was a kid growing up in California’s San Joaquin valley. Quite a few people of Basque heritage live there. The only reason I know is because of the great Basque restaurants. They’re legendary.
The link between Basque culture and great food would be enough to pique my interest, but there’s something more. There’s a mystery about the Basques. Who are they, anyway? I was curious.
Basque Country
I did a bit of research. “Basque country” is a region where the Pyrenees mountains descend into the Bay of Biscay. Part of it lies in Spain, and part of it lies in France. It’s OK to call it “Basque country,” but it’s not really a country.
The Basques have had their own government, their own laws, and their own culture, but never their own formally recognized nation or state.
But they’ve always been in the same place – right here, on the Bay of Biscay, overlapping Spain and France. It’s a beautiful area. The ocean is on one side, mountains are on the other, and green hills in between. Might be a nice place to go see first hand, eh? That’s what I was thinking, too.
Once we determined that we wanted to come to this area, the next step was to pick a location to use as our home base. There’s a lot going on here. From St. Jean de Luz, Bilbao and San Sebastián are nearby on the Spanish side of the border. Biarritz is just ten miles up the coast on the French side.
Home Base – St. Jean de Luz
For us, St. Jean de Luz was an easy choice. It’s French, so that’s a plus for me language-wise. It’s beautiful. And it seems more low-key than Biarritz. But what do we know, really? We’re just going by travel books and the internet.
We’re in St. Jean de Luz now. (Here’s how we got here). We’ve only been here a few hours, but it looks like we made a good choice. But let’s get back to the Basques.
I’m not the only one who wanted to know who the Basques are. Scientists have been trying to figure that out for a long time. Where do the Basques come from? Who are they related to, ancestrally?
Scientists who study these things for a living do more than send DNA samples to Ancestry.com. They dive into the deep end of the gene pool, get out the high-powered microscopes, and start making connections.
Enter the Genealogists
People in Spain generally have Indo-European and Celtic ethnicities. That’d be a good guess. Wrong.
Well then the Basques are bound to be like the French, most of whom have Celts or Gauls in their family tree. Wrong again! Basque genes have nothing to do with these lineages.
Scientists dug deeper. How about Norse? The Vikings got around back in the day. They were definitely in the area. Same for the Romans. No and no.
The experts now agree that no matter how hard they try, they aren’t able to find any relation between Basque genes and those of any other group. Basque genes are uniquely their own.
And as far as anyone knows, although Basques have traveled far and wide, the Basque homeland has never been anywhere but where it is now. They are a unique people, and genetically speaking, unlike any other.
Enough with the Genes Already – Let’s Eat!
The more one learns about the Basques, the more interesting they become. But we’ve had a long day, and we’re ready to find some thing to eat. Basques are famous for their tapas. (Although that’s not what Basques call them. More on that later). Tapas would be perfect.
We ventured out onto the streets of St. Jean de Luz for the first time. We were in a pedestrian zone, so walking around was a pleasure. But it was too early for restaurants or even cafes to be open.
We walked from one end of the town to the other. Finally, we found a place that was open – a bistrot, not a tapas bar. No problem. We’re flexible!
To be continued…
Featured Image: Beautiful photo of Aramaio valley with Udalaitz mountain in Basque country. Credit: Mimadeo/istockphoto
