Road Trip: The Basque Coast
A drive from Bordeaux to San Sebastian with days by the sea, simple but amazing food, brocanting, spa towns and other unplanned discoveries, plus a night at the one and only Les Prés d’Eugénie
I know I said I’d be taking a break until Sept 9, but after our road trip through southwestern France to San Sebastian across the border in Spain, I wanted to share it, because who knows—you might need it now, or it might inspire you to plan a trip there for late summer/fall. The genesis of this journey begins with Matt’s birthday. Being a summer baby, Matt always wants a trip more than he wants a party, and since his birthday is in high summer (July 21), it also happens to be the toughest period to book flights and hotels, so I try to make plans that are within driving distance. When we’re in New York, we stay in the city at a fancy uptown hotel and eat in a restaurant we wouldn’t normally splurge on—a real holiday even for just 24 hours in our own town (I despise the word staycation). In more recent years, since I’m not locked into a corporate job that keeps me in New York all summer, we’ve gone to Île de Ré, which is lovely and very easy to return to. (I last wrote about it here.) But this year, I was determined to do something different. We’re spending most of the summer at Maison Médoc, our house in the tiny town of St Yzans about an hour north of Bordeaux, since we just bought a new “project house” (more on that this fall, but if you want some idea you can look here) and needed to be around to clean/organize/plan it. It’s two to three hours from here to Biarritz—a seaside town we love—but I wanted to explore something new as well. I settled on heading to San Sebastian for the first night, Biarritz for nights 2 and 3, and ending at the legendary hotel/restaurant Les Prés d’Eugénie for the last night.
PART 1: Bordeaux to San Sebastian