Onto Spain - Paradore Hondarribia!

We drove today from 8:30 - 3:30 through the Bordeau region and into Spain.  We stopped along the way only for gas and rest stops; we had a baguette with cheese and Orangina in the car.  Mark did all the driving.

By the 'power of the force' which Mark has in abundance, we found the paradore Hondarribia which is in the upper town of this border town in Basque country, the very first exit in Spain.  It is on a beautiful harbor.  Unfortunately, the weather has turned drizzly and chilly, which is good for driving, but not so much for walking around.

We checked into the castle which was built on the site in the 1100's by King Sancho Abarca of Navarre.  The current, forbidding, and not terribly attractive facade was built later by Emperor Carlos V.  The walls are over 8 feet thick.  It has a beautiful courtyard and a terrace overlooking the town and the harbor; we hope that the weather clears so that we can sit in them.

We were rather hungry by around 5, so took the elevator down to the old town by the harbor and walked around, but did not find any restaurant of interest.  So, we walked back to the paradore and had coffee in a wonderful medieval room with some cookies to tide us over.  We had forgotten that most Spanish restaurants do not open for dinner until 8 o'clock.

But, it turns out that there was one Basque restaurant open, so we walked  there and had an interesting group of tapas, including one totally black one supposedly octopus. Mark and I dared try it, but Mike and Nancy gave that one a pass.  At any rate, we had a rather nice meal for only 24 Euros and relaxed.  Then, we walked back to the paradore and each had a glass of local rioja wine in one of the grand dining rooms, now a t.v. room.  Our room overlooks a lighted courtyard with ruins - very nice to look out.