Crossing Back into France | Europe Van Tour Episode 9

I begin this video by setting off from Bilbao and heading along the coast towards the French border, I stop in a small town called Sare, from where I go for a ride the following day. This ride was interesting as I actually crossed back into Spain for the highlight of the ride, which was a place called Zugarramurdi, a town with fascinating and no doubt dark history, as during the 17th century it was the focus of one of the largest witch trials in history. I then began making way along the west coast of France, stopping in Hendaye for a ride, and then ending the video enjoying a beautiful sunset looking out over the Bay of Biscay from a town called Biscarosse.

This is the ninth video from my trip into Europe. I have two months free, and I have deliberately embarked on this trip without any set plans of where I want to go and what I want to do, I have instead just loaded up my campervan with hiking and biking gear so that I can explore the countries I visit in a variety of different ways.

For those that expressed an interest in being in the raffle to win a custom frame bag which I mentioned in the last video, I will announce the winner in the next video I put out, which should be at the end of this week.

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Links

Ko-fi (If you want to support the channel): https://ko-fi.com/matryder

Komoot route for Zugarramurdi ride:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1517240646?share_token=ap7EZ0BbqLwvTlA1K7s7H2LNIqgeLeCHTFmbFU9w1xfcMv7M35&ref=wtd

Komoot route for Hendaye ride:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1519639736?share_token=azFr9LPBRe0eS78TFsz2dNjdMjLGhnXs5KZKckmaX5rrkz3zp5&ref=wtd

00:00. Introduction
04:43. Wet start to the ride
11:11. Nobody expects the…..
16:15. I attempt to cook
20:27. Heading to Hendaye
25:37. Amazing sunset to end the day

good morning so this morning we’re in bilbow about to head off along the coast I’m stopping at a place called gazal gatsi I don’t know how that it’s pronounced but that’s as good as I can do with it um it’s on the North Coast here in The Basque region and it looks like an interesting place it’s uh a fortress here which was Dragon Stone in uh Game of Thrones uh I think it was in one of the later series which I never really watched I read all the books but uh couldn’t deal with the TV series just because the story line departed from the books too much and it annoyed me let’s say that so let’s go and have a look gaze it’s an iset located off the mainland and it’s accessed by a man-made Bridge which I can just about see from here it was made in the 9th or the 10th Century they don’t know and it’s dedicated to St John the Baptist and that’s a suggestion that he actually came here but no proof or evidence C so during the Anglo Spanish war with all the Spanish armadas and all that stuff this place was sacked by uh Sir Francis Drake and that War was between 1585 and 16004 war between England and Spain do you know what sometimes this kind of weather lends itself to these places feels that much more dramatic and to be honest get a break from the Sun is quite nice and I’m going to watch this back in the future and think how could you say such a thing on back in Britain in a pissing rain anyway very interesting nice place it’s called SE that was a long drive I’m going to have a cup of tea and then see if there’s a shop around cuz I need food so it started raining and it’s going to carry on until about 11:00 tomorrow morning um this ride tomorrow is about 30 miles but there’s quite a bit of climbing so should be an interesting one and I cross back into Spain so two countries in a single day on on a bike ride I like that um I’m going to be crashing out going to bed in a bit so I shall see you in the morning and I imagine I’m going to start the ride in the [Music] rain raining but I knew it was going to be I think I’m looking at the forecast so as the day goes on the weather gets better but it’s sunny with showers I just don’t want to go earlier than I need to try and get the best part of the day but I don’t want to be rushing around either so I think about 10:00 well I made it out I mean it’s raining now I’m just taking shelter I may as well where I can yeah this has been nice so far I’m only a couple of miles in this kind of train so far thank God for these tires seriously they really are very good I’ll give it five minutes and then carry on or just carry on I’m going to get wet whatever happens it’s a perfect example of the whole YouTube benefit cuz if I wasn’t filming I seriously don’t think I would have come out I would have just thought I’ll wait till tomorrow or but now I’m out I’m glad I am yeah it’s wet but it’s never as bad as you think is it it’s not cold and getting wet is just it’s refreshing that might be a bit half full I don’t know but the point is if I wasn’t filming today I would have sat on my ass all day in the van anyway I’m going to keep moving I’m going to ignore the rain I’m I still think it’s going to clear up later so you know I’ll dry out whatever I’m waterproof sun which is nice I don’t know how long it’ll last probably about 11 seconds now I’ve taken my rain coat off but still I’ll enjoy it whil I can been good so far I’ve got a decentish climb coming up and then a bit of a descent I think before another climb it’s one of those days so it’s quite a lot of climbing today maybe th meters something like that and the ride is 28 29 miles long it’ll be in the description this bike I love it it’s fantastic I’ve said it before it just does everything really well so I’d recommend it cona Sutra very happy with it so we’re in a town called etela which is famous for its traditional Basque architecture curently hasn’t changed for hundreds of years very pretty little village it’s also famous for Pigeon hunting can’t see any pigeons but that might be why I’m pushing it upgrades here we are 13.7 I think that’s fair enough still got to sort the gearing out on this bike so I’ll do that when I get home had lots of good feedback I just have to pour over it when I get back and figure out what to do big learning curve for me the size of this guy that must be 18 in long I’ve never seen an earthworm that big wow don’t go that way so I’m not coming back up another Peak done one more to go after this nice views up here this reminds me of like the Lake District or the Peak District anyway let’s go down final climb of the day and I’ll be glad about that so we’ve made it to a little town called zugar murdi this is a really fascinating little place in 16009 the Spanish Inquisition came here after reports of sorcery and witchcraft in the area and uh it was the focus of one of the largest witch trials in the inquisition’s history they uh condemned many people to death men women and children some were burnt at the stake some were imprisoned but um yeah nobody really knows how many people they kill but it’s known that had a lasting effect on the population the Inquisition if you didn’t know their main focus was to eliminate witchcraft heresy sorcery all that sort of stuff and and like enforce religious Orthodoxy pretty ropey time in Spanish history I think everyone’s heard a Spanish Inquisition because of Monty Python really so apparently there’s a museum here which is Museum which I’m going to try and find and a cave where it’s a alleged witchcraft was conducted let’s go and [Music] see so it all seems to have started when a group of people from this Village confessed publicly that they were part of a satanic sect and the Abott of the local Monastery ported it to the Inquisition and that’s why they came in the first place so then in 1610 they burned 11 people and sentenced another 42 various punishments for the crimes some just being incarceration anyone that was convicted was a pariah and that was it for them and their family they were azed so this is apparently where all the Witchcraft was carried out that’s a good place for it so the problem is that if you didn’t confess you were tortured so so many people did confess one of the inquisitors even noted that the confessions were far-fetched saying that the Devil Himself wouldn’t be capable of some of the things that people confess to Je in that Inquisition all seems very flawed to me right so what’s this a lookout anyway after all of the hysteria that was whipped up because of this town it’s spread to the whole area and there were more inquisitions no happy ending I’m afraid interestingly enough the whole concept of the Inquisition came about because of the cathar and all of that stuff which was 12th century that’s where they were and that was the border between France and Spain or was it Spain and Italy France and Italy France and Italy I remembered did you I’ve got such a headache really bad so I’ve got coffee and I’m getting crocketts with ham they’re not even open but they’re so kind so they’re making something for me I think I just need food or something [Music] right back at the van and now the Sun comes out but that’s fine I mean there’s an advantage to riding in the the cool anyway first things first going to put the water on cuz it’s shower night and change of clothes night as well special treat there’s a shop around the corner I’m just going to nip up there now get some stuff for dinner let’s go what a nice place this is there let’s go and get some food so my idea just for a snack was to take mushrooms and put a bit of Pate in Pate Basque local pate and then a bit of camon bear and then put them in the air fryer I think that should come out all right just as a sort of snack so I’m going to give it a go see how it works I’m not sure whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea but trying is never a bad idea so let’s see what happens guess take out stalks without breaking them what would you put in first the Pate or the cheese I mean there’s not a lot of room in these these should be bigger really I think Pate first so let’s try that so let’s try see what happens with this that doesn’t look particularly appealing to me I will confess I’m going to assume that’s what it’s meant to look like kind have much in these I mean smells all right right and then let’s go for the cheese how much as much as I can I think I think that’ll do what I say I’m going to do five minutes to start with see what happens nowhere near I’ll give it another 5 minutes okay this is all it’s getting oh that looks good yeah I got a feeling Cam and bear is not the right cheese because it looks crispy and it hasn’t really melted but I’m sure it’s going to taste good so I’ll get them out try them and then tell you the entire truth about whether they’re any good or not right yeah they are let’s see what they’re like I’m going to pick take the smallest one just in case it’s horrible that is awesome really it’s worked well so I’m pleased with them my first ever proper cooking thing I’m sure I could have put that better but it doesn’t matter so yes there we go and then those for Afters I can’t do it all can I can’t it all in one go so there we go so that’s it for today it was a good day I enjoyed that ride it was uh very nice and tomorrow I’m going to work my way up the west coast of France got a ride and I think uh an interesting place to have a look around and a nice place to park up for tomorrow night so uh yeah that’s the plan for tomorrow I’ll see you tomorrow good morning it’s a rainy one again but I’m thinking it’s going to clear up that’s what the forecast said last night anyway we’re going to hend where there’s a little bit of a ride and then from there I think there’s another bit of a drive to the park up for tonight so uh yeah we’ll get there and then we’ll see see what happens with the weather I’m not minded to ride in the rain today and it’s not that long a ride so if it’s going to rain all day I might just go for a walk instead we’ll see let’s uh get there and find out so we’re out pday small place on the coast only a short ride today but it looks like a nice place nice clear sea so we’re on the west coast of France so this is the Bay of bisc I might be wrong I think it is though the donut thing I needed energy after that 220 yards of cycling for so the train station here in hend is quite interesting it’s got an interesting history in October 1940 Hitler met Franco here to discuss Spain siding with Germany during the war that meeting was inconclusive cuz Franco didn’t agree to Military Support so it’s known as the henai conference all happened here probably needed to get something from Amazon as well right that was a nice ride it was uh yeah I liked it it’s nice to be back by the sea but now we’re on to cap Breton which is not that far away I don’t think let’s have a look ah 47 minutes and it’s just further up the coast so this is a paid Park up but it’s close to the beach probably not worth messing around trying to find anywhere free although I’ll have a look when I get there we shall see but yeah let’s head there and uh I fancy a bit of a walk to be honest especially along the beach so I’m going to do that it’s definitely got busier this place is full of Vans I mean it’s fine for tonight I think I’m only here for a night right now I’m heading into town to buy some food and I’ve got to move it cuz it looks like everywhere closes I really am going to have to move it I’ve got sort of 10 minutes leeway success it’s only quarter past 7 now these are very impressive so was during uh World War II the occupying German army thought this was a great place for a potential Allied landing and an invasion so they built all these blockhouses uh so they’d be ready when the enemy arrived but uh the Allies never came obviously The Invasion never took place here so they’ve just been left and they’re kind of settling into the sand over time that’s a coincidence this is the best part of the day today on hly I enjoyed that ride earlier but this at sunset on the beach that really interesting set of block houses the sun sort of setting this is definitely my favorite part of the day now I got to try and remember where I live send help maybe I should have written SOS I’m so clever I have such unique Footprints I can just follow my own steps back to the van I shall survive another day so there you have it that’s today done so that’ll be it for this for today I’ll see you tomorrow and if it’s the end of the video thank you for watching I’ll see you in the next one bye