Thursday, July 14, Good French national holiday! Today we go to Cambo-les-Bains to visit the Villa Arnaga (home of Edmond Rostand). First, the video of the day :
10h: Arnaga arrived at the villa. The property is very high. 17 acres including 1,200 feet of Hydrangeas planted by Edmond Rostand.
After winding through the roads lined with hydrangeas, we here at this famous villa: 1'500m ² of living space, 40 rooms all landscaping job (in some specific themes such as China, English, Empire and others.
The property also has a French garden of 3 hectares with several pools. there is also an English garden, an orangery, a pergola pavilions and other flags. But there is also a backyard
called ''Chantecler'' the same name as the play he wrote in this villa.
Edmond Rostand is known for its fabulous play written in 1897''Cyrano de Bergerac''. But what is lesser known is that Mr. Rostand was inspired by a person who really existed: Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac
(1619-1655). When the theater first, December 27, 1897, the atmosphere backstage was very tense because neither the company nor Edmond Rostand himself was certain that the piece
would work, he came to apologize before the beginning of the representation to Constant Coquelin (the one who played the role of Cyrano) to have resulted in such an adventure.
Ultimately the piece was a triumph: 20 minutes of uninterrupted applause, Legion of Honour for M. Rostand, French drama's most famous and Cyrano de Bergerac has become the
archetypal human just as Hamlet and Don Quixote known not only in France but worldwide.
Cyrano de Bergerac also brought an Oscar for best actor Gerard Depardieu in the 1991 eponymous film.
A large nose is the door in a sign that says ''this house houses a man that is spiritual, prudent, courteous, affable, generous and liberal'' and a small nose is the cap of opposites.
Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac.
After this very interesting morning, head for the lunch we will do in Espelette. The village is already decorated with peppers and we find a very nice little restaurant thanks to the ''Le routard'' 's guide
(always this little book very useful). Conservators are warm and their menus are full but mostly excellent. For the first ''Basque'' meal I am very far from being disappointed, I would have
discovered the Axoa (pronounced ''Achoa'') and the true Serano ham and feta cheese. Aintzina Restaurant (440 Karrika Nagusia) in Espelette for gourmands who want to have fun.
Speaking of Axoa, here's a recipe:
For 4 people, 55 minutes of preparation 30 minutes cooking.
Ingredients:
1kg veal shoulder, two peppers, a dozen sweet green pimento, 2 onions, 2 cloves garlic, 2 sprigs parsley, bay leaf 4, a glass of wine dry white (Irouleguy),
3 tablespoons olive oil, some salt and pimento Espelette (powder).
Procedure:
Coarsely chop meat, mince the garlic and onion. Seed and slice peppers and julienned green pimento. Pour oil in large skillet and sauté the vegetables during 15 minutes.
Add the meat and sauté for 10 minutes before adding 2 cups of boiling water and white wine. Add herbs, salt and pimento and simmer 30 minutes. To eat hot, preferably
with potato cut into wedges and sauteed with garlic powder, basil, chives and parsley.
After eating, towards the workshop. Shop what? Pimento of course. Here we are at the workshop Spice Ramuntxo.
Here we learn how to grow pimento Espelette (AOC), how to prepare and care. We also learn to use it in cooking: it replaces the pepper around the area. And it must be added at the
end of preparation of the dish so that it gives all its flavor when eaten (instead of only to benefit the cooks.)
We leave on the road after the tasting of chilli finished (and some shopping too). We visit Ainhoa and find a particular church. This church has floors with balconies so
that people can follow the Mass even if there is more room at the bottom. This church is also very nicely decorated. A little before returning to the car I stopped in a small
craftsman making beautiful things to make a surprise for a specific individual.
On the way home we spend on roads surrounded by fields with particular trees ... These are kiwis. And the river that flows between its fields has given them his name kiwi de l'Adour.
A busy day, return home. Two small pictures of the keeper of the door against the pirates of the Adour.
