207 Recent Happenings in the Pays Basque

14th October 2013. Just give me a minute while I blow the dust off the blog.. That's better.. (cough cough!) It appears there's been a bit of a hiatus with my McBlog.. almost 2 months since the last post.. But, as always, there are a number of reasons (none of which would stand up in court however!). 
While I'm preparing the case for the defence, this is a piece I heard on the radio the other day - by ABBA of all people - I don't know about you but to me it has a real Highland feel to it.. I think Benny and Bjorn must have been interviewing Doctor Glenmorangie when they wrote it (but it's none the worse for that though☺): Let's see.. what's been going on in this blessèd corner of France since the end of August? The choir I sing with gave a concert in the cathedral here which was quite an experience.. Every seat was taken and even standing room was at a premium. Madame was sat somewhere in the crowd and she told me afterwards that there were people around her crying as we sang. It was a moving experience for all of us and it was one of the most rewarding things I've done in a loong time. The change in the acoustics from the rehearsal room to the vast resonating spaces of the cathedral took me by surprise - and this was enhanced by the powerful tones of the organ. We have some more concerts coming up before Christmas. I've surprised myself by how much I enjoy it.
The second weekend of September saw the annual commemoration of the Comet Line - the legendary WWII evasion network designed to repatriate shot-down Allied aircrew. (I've described this event in previous posts - check out Comet Line under "Labels" in the left hand margin) This year's event retraced the classic coastal route from Ciboure, Urrugne and then over the mountains, across the Bidassoa river that marks the frontier between France and Spain and on to Sarobe farm - and it was as inspirational as in previous years.
This year we were privileged to have with us Andrée Dumon (aka "Nadine") - a wartime Comète guide - and George & Janet Duffee. "Nadine" and George are seen here (right) laying a wreath at the Monument aux Morts, Anglet.
"Nadine" is a wonderfully charismatic lady who leaves a lasting impression on all those she meets.. I heard only today that she's written a book (in French) and I'm hoping it won't be too long before it's translated into English.
George - an RAF pilot - had the great misfortune to be shot down in his Halifax heavy bomber over Holland on his very first operation and after making his way down to the Pays Basque, he managed to make a 14 hour crossing of the mountains at night in the rain - an experience that marked him for life - so much so that he and his family have returned to the Pays Basque countless times over the years to revisit those who'd helped him in those dark days. It was the 70th anniversary of George's epic crossing this year.
The family of the late Col Robert Grimes USAAF (right) were also present for the first time. The stirring stories of both the Comet Line and Bob's journey to freedom are well told by Peter Eisner in his book "The Freedom Line" and it's well worth a read. Bob's daughters and their families arrived jet-lagged from the US but after a minimal amount of downtime, they were soon scampering up the mountains like mountain goats..! (Poetic license alert!☺) Most of us were in the same boat to be honest.. One of the secrets of hill walking is not to look too far ahead or up.. Another is to make sure you have 2 good sticks. This may or may not work for you but it definitely did for me. Mine were both sturdy wooden jobbies and they enabled me take some of the load off my legs by adding my arm strength to get up the hills. When I first did this climb three years ago, I really suffered but with the sticks it was quite do-able.
The route on the map below was made via an iphone and it shows the actual route we took on the Saturday.  
 MapMyHike This chapel lies between Ciboure and Urrugne and was the first stop we made:

More to come.
No Scotsmen were hurt in the writing of this post..