It is wise to carry provisions in the car for this journey, as the villages do not cater for visitors or tourists. The fonda at Sant’ Esteban can provide, however, a most excellent lunch, although giving only the slightest signs of such a possibility. The Hôtel la Perla at Pamplona is clean and the food excellent.
PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE
St. Jean de Luz.—Picturesque town on level ground, with a small bay, old houses, curious church, and Château de Louis XIV. Wellington’s headquarters in 1813-1814.
Béhobie.—A frontier village by the international bridge over the Bidassoa.
Irurita.—An old and very quaint Spanish town, with several houses ornamented with the armorial bearings of their noble owners.
Col de Velate.—A pass through the Pyrenees at a height of 2,717 feet, guarded by soldiers to prevent brigandage.
Villava.—Has the ruins of an ancient convent and some Renaissance houses.
Pamplona.—A large walled city, the capital of Navarre; has no great attractions beyond its situation, its massive walls, and the Spanish life of the streets. (1) Cathedral founded in 1397, and façade rebuilt in 1783; (2) Church of San Nicolás, twelfth and thirteenth centuries; (3) San Saturnino, a curious building, much altered since the fourteenth century; (4) the citadel has seen much fighting, down to the Carlist War of 1875-1876.
Road to Tolosa.—Through a long ravine for a great part of the way; small, scattered villages here and there.
Tolosa.—A small town, with dark and narrow streets; Church of Santa Maria has elaborate classic front.