Study Abroad: Le Route des Plages

From right to left, the land rose and fell. Straight ahead, l'océan Atlantique glittered in the September sun. Behind us, Le Route des Plages that we had just traversed stretched out behind us, 20 km to Bayonne where our hike had begun. Here, in the midst of the Basque Country, Saint-Jean-de-Luz rests like an diamond amidst the jewels of France. Here, in the Basque Country, is a heart that can not be found anywhere else. The people here have an incredible amount of pride in heir culture, language, and way of life. 

It's a place where people used to paint the beams of their houses with ox blood, but now they decorate them with red or green paint. A place where the language is different from the two countries that the region resides in. A place where people believe in their way of life enough to try to create their own country. 

Somehow, all of these things are tangible. In the wind, the waves, and the way people cary themselves. 

Along Le Route des Plages, we passed through many parking lots where people sat in the back of their open car trunks and waxed their surfboards, strapped on wetsuits, or just relaxed in their Volkswagen vans. The atmosphere was very similar to the beach in my hometown, and it made me appreciate it so much more. It's interesting to feel the same atmosphere somewhere so far away from home. It makes the world seem smaller, yet it also makes everything more unique. Like the lens of a microscope finally starting to come into focus.

Looking around at all of these wondrous sites, it was hard to believe that I am here. It was one of those moments when you think this is one of those stories that I'll be telling people about ten years from now.  What a crazy world.