Monday 26 March 2012
The search for Marta's family in Basque country (Spain) continued with renewed vigor. Charles and Dian got up at eight in order to catch "Ana" in her office. The oddest feeling came over them as they RECOGNIZED Ana from the night before. Her name had been given to them by the waitress as the woman who might be able to help from town hall but Dian and Charles had already talked to her in the group at the first tavern. Wierd. She invited them to look over her shoulder as she Googled all the versions of Ylizaliturri she could think of but no dice. Finally she made a connection as to the meaning of the name at least. Lizar is a type of tree - the Fresno. Turri is a waterfall.
Nicole came in and Ana opened the upstairs library allowing us to do some research of our own and check e-mails. We said good bye and a hearty thank you.
The dream of the whole town running to us with open arms went up in smoke but we felt good about exhausting all possibilites based on the limited evidence we had been given. Besides, without the quest we would never have had all the unexpected adventures we did. We headed for Biarritz. After nearly three months in and out (mostly in), we said adios to Spain. The hoity toity town of Biarritz was just as we imagined it. Lunching above the port we looked out over the harbor and down the coast at all the old hotels in all their faded glory.
We dove alongside the Pyranees covered in snow and the fields below covered in green grass that reminded us of our visit to the emerald isle. Unfortunately the idyllic mood was shattered by the rattling of (what we learned later) was our exhaust pipe. We decided to pull into a camp outside of Lourdes and after two false attempts we found a winner.
It was 7:30 when we pulled into Alex's camp - Leprat Dou Rey and were greeted by his huge dog, Babou. The corkscrew resting on the reception counter told us we were in France and after checking in we called Sebastian our ace mechanic to see what he thought of our "rattle."
While Charles dealt with that and hooked up on the Internet Dian made pasta which was served on the large table and chairs Alex had kindly brought down for us from the bungalo nearby.
After dinner we all trooped over to the reception area where we left a message for Dian's mom and dad. Being that reception was closed, Charles had to stay IN THE COLD (and nearly caught one) to take advantage of the Wi-Fi.
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| Another lead we followed for the family name |
Nicole came in and Ana opened the upstairs library allowing us to do some research of our own and check e-mails. We said good bye and a hearty thank you.
The dream of the whole town running to us with open arms went up in smoke but we felt good about exhausting all possibilites based on the limited evidence we had been given. Besides, without the quest we would never have had all the unexpected adventures we did. We headed for Biarritz. After nearly three months in and out (mostly in), we said adios to Spain. The hoity toity town of Biarritz was just as we imagined it. Lunching above the port we looked out over the harbor and down the coast at all the old hotels in all their faded glory.
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| Basque country |
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| A meat truck outside a Dia |
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| Everything was in bloom |
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| Photo by Dian |
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