Comet Line Crossing of the Pyrenees

Tuesday, 20 August 2019 / Published in World War II Escape Lines
pyrenean experience sunset over the valley on our guided walking holidays in the Pyrenees
A detailed description of Jim Allison's escape from Nazi occupied Europe with the help of the Pyrenean escape route known as the Comet Line. First-hand details from the final survivors of the Comet resistance network.

Basque Christmas Traditions: Olentzero

Saturday, 26 December 2015 / Published in Basque Culture and Tradition
Olentzero on Christmas Eve in Ituren
Olentzero – an inseparable part of Basque Christmas Traditions As you would expect even Basque Christmas traditions dig deep into their pagan past.  Here, during the winter months, the flint-grey skies linger over the Baztan Valley while the ember-red autumn leaves burn out slowly and silently on the forest floor. Even the mighty autumn winds,

The origins of our Self-Guided Walks in the Pyrenees

Friday, 12 December 2014 / Published in Visit the Pyrenees, Walking in the Pyrenees, Wildlife of the Pyrenees
people walking
The Telephone Call Our self-guided walks in the Pyrenees were pitchforked into action after a phone call from a Houston lawyer around Christmas 2012. Steve was heading to the Basque Country with a group of lawyer friends and wanted me to design 6 days of self-guided walks in the Pyrenees to lead them over the

Beautiful Basque Country Farmhouse B & B – with a tortoise on the tap

Thursday, 29 May 2014 / Published in Basque Culture and Tradition, Basque Lifestyle
Cottage in the Pyrenees, Navarre, Iaulin Borda,
Thirteen years ago our beautiful Basque Country farmhouse B & B in Ituren was nothing but a tiny mountain barn with a rustic outdoor toilet and a tiny brass tortoise on an outside tap! Once a haunt of sheep and wild ferrets (and a couple of grotesque toads that centered themselves up maliciously each night

The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo

Monday, 14 April 2014 / Published in Basque Culture and Tradition, Baztan Valley, Dolores Redondo, Elizondo
The Invisible Gardian by Dolores Redondo
Review by Steve Cracknell When I read Georgina’s article, I thought: this is a book I have to buy. I haven’t read any detective novels since George Simenon died but I have lived in the Baztan valley where the novel is set, and I can use it to improve my Spanish. So I wasn’t particularly

The Camino de Santiago via the Baztan Valley

Wednesday, 05 March 2014 / Published in Visit the Pyrenees, Walking in the Pyrenees
Baztan Valley Walks and Traditions
Several stretches of the Camino de Santiago lead walkers over the passes of the Pyrenees into the old kingdom of Navarre. The most popular and commercialised crossing point is the Camino Francés which leads pilgrims from St. Jean Pied-de-Port over the mountain pass of Ibañeta (1066 m) into Roncesvalles and on to Santiago de Compostela.