“King of France and Navarre”: this old expression reminds us that, under the Old Regime, our kings had a long hold on this kingdom, today one of the most beautiful provinces of Spain.

Backing onto the Pyrenees mountains, between Aragon, Castile and the Basque Country (Guipucoa), Navarre offers an incredible variety of landscapes. Mountains, deep forests, plains with distant horizons, Ebro valley, hills and hilltop villages, Bardenas Reales desert, without forgetting Pamplona (Pamplona), the capital.

Navarre has inherited a long and rich history. This heritage and this cultural identity are inscribed in the stones of houses, palaces, castles. So many reasons to embark on the paths of Navarre.

When Navarre was French

From the Pyrenean mountains covered with deep forests (Roncesvalles), to the vast plains, Navarre captivates the traveler with its valleys steeped in history (Baztan, Bidassoa, Salazar, Roncal), its hilltop villages, its monasteries among the oldest of Spain, and its small charming cities (Puente la Reina, Olite, Estella).

Crossing Navarre from north to south is like going in one day from Savoy to Morocco! At the gates of France, this beautiful province is as much a change of scenery as a trip to the great south of Iberia.

In the late 12 th s, Navarre was a powerful kingdom. On the death of King Sanche VII le Fort, the crown of Navarre passed to his nephew, Count Thibaut de Champagne. He left Reims and was crowned king of Navarre in Pamplona in 1234. Navarre then lived under French influence. On the throne of Navarre succeed noble dynasties of France. Families settle there, they are called francos (Cruzat, Chaminade, Marigny).

The king of France is also that of Navarre. Where does this expression come from? After the annexation (1512) of Navarre by the Habsburg dynasty of Spain, Charles V gave up in 1530 the part of Navarre of Ultra-Puertos (Basse-Navarre, which is in France).

He will leave it to its rightful owner, Henry II of Navarre (Albret dynasty), grandfather of Henri IV. The Bourbons can then, like the Capetians before, continue to proclaim themselves “kings of France and Navarre”, but they no longer have control of Spanish Navarre.

Pamplona, in the footsteps of Hemingway

The event, dear to the hearts of Navarreses, takes place in Pamplona (Pamplona) every year in early July. These are the festivals of San Fermín.

Every morning, bulls are released into the streets. The feverish animals run behind enthusiasts, in local attire: red berets and scarves, white shirts and pants. It’s the encierro, the most delusional moment of the party.

The public attends it behind wooden palisades. Men pursued by bulls take risks. Every year there are wounded. Then the bulls finally enter the arena and the bullfight begins.

This fervor fascinated Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). Journalist based in Paris, he came to Pamplona for the first time in 1923, where he fervently attended the San Fermin celebrations. He then returned there every year until 1959.

These festivals and this city inspired him a passion that he immortalized in the sun also rises, one of his first novels. Today, a Hemingway road (Ruta Hemingway) makes it possible to follow in the footsteps of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

We discover Paseo Hemingway, near the bullring (plaza de Toros), with a sculpted bust of the American writer. Further on, the Yoldi hotel, where Hemingway was having a bruising with his friend the torrero Antonio Ordóñez.

He frequented the cafes in the Plaza del Castillo, notably the famous Iruña cafe. There is a statue of him in a room nicknamed the rincón de Hemingway, and photos from the time. Next door is the Grand Hotel La Perla, where the writer who loves bullfighting lived in room 217.

The Baztan Valley: “all nobles rich or poor”

Incredible the number of houses bearing coats of arms carved in the Baztan Valley. In the 13 th century, its inhabitants took part in the battle of Navas de Tolosa against the Moors.

Grateful, the King of Navarre granted these brave men a privilege of nobility. He decreed that each inhabitant of the Baztan valley, rich or poor, who was born here would become a hidalgo, holder of a noble coat of arms. Thus, was invented aristocracy.

4 km south of Elizondo, the village of Irurita (photo) is a vivid illustration. In the central square of this high hill town, all the houses (except two) bear a magnificent coat of arms carved in a magnificent red sandstone, characteristic of the region.

In Arizcun, on the edge of a dirt road I discover a rustic and old house, leaning against the hill. It was in this small manor that Pedro de Ursua was born around 1525. Of all the Spanish conquistadors, this Navarrese is the only one who renounced the Eldorado out of love for a woman.

He went to Peru, took the head of a small army and set off in search of the Eldorado, an imaginary kingdom where the Indian chief was covered with gold flakes (El Dorado = Le Doré). On the way, he fell in love and gave up the quest for gold.

His assistant, lope de Aguirre, had him murdered to lead the expedition. Werner Herzog relates this crazy and bloody adventure in a remarkable film Aguirre or the wrath of the Gods. The Eldorado did not exist. It was a legendary country to drive crazy.

Roncesvalles: towards Saint-Jacques, another 790 km

At 960 m above sea level, Roncesvalles (Roncesvalles) is a valley that springs from the Pyrenees and a stage on the way to Saint-Jacques de Compostelle (Santiago). It is from here that pilgrims leave when they begin their long march to Compostela. A large sign at the side of the road indicates “Santiago de Compostela 790 km”. It is not a simple hike, but a long and exhausting expedition that lasts at least 23 days.

The Roncevaux site is superb, ideal for starting the journey. Roncesvalles is first of all a high place in history. In the summer of 778, while fighting against the Arabs in the Iberian Peninsula, the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army was massacred by the Vascons (the Basques) allied with the Saracens. The famous knight Roland died there. A few centuries later, the first song of gesture was born recounting this dramatic episode.

We all learned this in elementary school Roland in agony ringing the horn (an olifant in fact) to ask for reinforcement… It is said that Charlemagne came in person to pray on the remains of his knights and bury their bones in a chapel.

The former Roncevaux monastery (photo) houses a pilgrim refuge, a charming hotel, a church, a cloister and the Saint-Augustin chapel.

In it, we discover the recumbent figure of King Sanche VII called the Fort. He reigned 40 years in Navarre. Winner of the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, during the Reconquista, he returned with chains and an emerald taken from the defeated Moorish emir. Chains and emerald appear today in the coat of arms of Navarre.

The Navarre of Saint-François-Xavier

Sainte Thérèse d’Avila, Spanish, whom the poet Verlaine admired. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Basque, whom Somerset Maugham also admired, and now Saint François-Xavier, noble from Navarre, father of foreign missions and especially patron saint of Navarre! No trip to Spain without a foray into the mystical universe of these people.

Coming from Sangüesa, a beautiful road goes up to a semi-arid hill. Suddenly, an oasis of greenery appears it is the domain of the castle of Javier (photo), perched on a rocky peak, above the valley of the Rio Aragón. It was in this eagle’s nest that Francisco Xavier de Jasso de Azpilicuelta y Aznarez was born (Saint François-Xavier, 1506-1552).

With Ignace de Loyola, he studied at the Sorbonne (Paris), founded the Company of Jesus (the Jesuits) and was the first evangelizer of India, Malacca, the Moluccas and Japan (he stayed there for 2 years from 1549 to 1551).

Almost completely destroyed 16th century castle was rebuilt (copy of the original) that about 19th century the museum recounts the fate of this “mad God of the Renaissance”. Christians in Japan have offered kakemono (rolls of wallpaper) on the life of the saint, decorated with Japanese ideograms. In a chapel, a Christ on the cross with a smiling face: he is in agony and he smiles, a happy victim.

In Sangüesa is the Yamaguchi hotel. Why this Japanese name? Because the first Japanese city where Francisco Xavier started preaching in 1549 was Yamaguchi. Located in the south of Japan, near the island of Kyushu, it is twinned today with Pamplona.

The Bardenas Reales: a desert in the heart of Navarre

History has its reasons that geography sometimes ignores! While the plain of Tudela is one of the most fertile in Navarre (the best vegetables in the province are grown there), a few kilometers to the north lies the Bardenas Reales reserve (photo).

This vast zone of extreme aridity covers an area of 400 km 2. This is one of the most fascinating landscapes in the province. Is it New Mexico, Jordan or Arizona?

Limestone peaks eroded by the centuries punctuate an immense arid plain with cracked earth, formed by thorn bushes, tufts of yellow grass, a kind of dry savannah inhabited by insects, reptiles and a few flocks of sheep.

Strange rocky figures rise here and there as in a western setting. There is something timeless about this loneliness. The dust is constant, the wind permanent, the rain rare. When it rains, it is violent, and it does not last.

No villages, no inhabitants, just a military base which should one day close to allow the establishment in the area of a national park. It is a dream that could come true. These endless desolate and wild horizons attract hikers and mountain bikers but also poets and artists.

In 2001, the filmmaker Terry Gilliam wanted to shoot a film on Don Quixote with Jean Rochefort and Johnny Depp. It was a fiasco: torrential rains, uproar from the military planes at the base, Rochefort injured in the back the film canceled, Terry Gilliam made this failure a making-of which came out under the name “Lost in La Mancha”.

Unusual Navarre

In Ayegui, very close to the town of Estella, the monks of the Irache monastery had both a mystical spirit and a great practical sense. Concerned about the well-being of the pilgrims of Compostela, they distributed free wine and water to those who passed through Ayegui, in order to give them comfort and courage.

This generous tradition is today perpetuated by the Irache bodega (a local winegrower). At the edge of a path (the Camino de Santiago), embedded in the exterior wall of the cellar, here is a fountain unique in the world! It has two separate taps: one for wine and the other for water. Pilgrims can drink freely and free of charge. What another winegrower would do the same? In Navarre the spirit of the place is so strong, that nobody questions the raison d’être of this Irache fountain.

The last home of Borgia and the cradle of Louis de Funès

Other unusual places awaited me, such as this Etxarri campsite, near Alsasua, which has the privilege of being established in one of the oldest oak groves in Spain. A wonderful eco-campsite that makes you want to take a nap under 400-year-old oaks.

In Viana, a plaque in front of the church reminds us that this is where the remains of the diabolical César Borgia who died in 1507 rest. After his flight from Rome, he took refuge with his stepfather Juan III d’Albret. At the head of the armies of Navarre, he was killed in a combat.

Finally, towards Tudela, I found a beautiful abandoned palace in the village of Funès. It could be the cradle of the family of Louis de Funès, our great national comic, heir to a noble Navarrese family ruined and took refuge in France in 1904.

Spanish National Tourist Office in Paris

Turismo de Navarra

Pamplona Tourist Office

How to get there?

Pamplona is served by Iberia from Paris-Orly and from a dozen French airports via Madrid and Barcelona. Find your plane ticket.

By car, from the Hautes-Pyrénées or the Pyrénées-Atlantiques via the D933 (from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port), but also the Bidassoa and Baztan valleys (from Ainhoa or Sare, in the Basque Country).

Or sleep? Where to eat in Pamplona?

– Hostel Hemingway: calle Amaya, 26, 1st floor left. 5 min walk from the bullring and the central plaza del Castillo, in a more residential than historic area, but close to everything. Dormitories from 2 to 7 beds (bunk beds), clean, pleasant and well arranged.

– Pensión Escaray Lozano: calle Nuvea, 24, 1 st floor on the left. E-mail: esca24@gmail.com Doubles at 40 €, without breakfast. In an old building very well maintained. A pension furnished in a large apartment weathered by time but very clean. Family decoration, with old objects, old furniture, frames and paintings.

– La Mandarra de la Ramos: calle San Nicolás, 9. Open daily until midnight, Fri-Sat 2:45 am. Remarkable pintxos bar in the heart of the excitement in a busy pedestrian street on weekend evenings. The pintxos are carefully made, some with great imagination and always appetizing.

– Bodegon Sarria: calle Estafeta, 50. Open daily until midnight, later Sat-Sun Pintxos at 2-3 €. It is one of the busiest streets in the city lined with a string of bars. The Bodegon Sarria is renowned for its decor and its bullfighting style.

– Café Bar Gaucho: calle Espoz y Mina, 7. Open until midnight Sun-Thu, and 2:30 a.m. Fri-Sat. According to many connoisseurs, this would be the best tapas bar in town!

The Baztan Valley

This beautiful Navarre valley is located halfway between Pamplona and the sea (Irun and Hendaye). From Pamplona do forty kilometers north to Doneztebe / Santestaba. Then follow the N-121B road, which leads to the French border (Ainhoa) and the Pyrenees mountains, passing through the charming villages of Irurita, Elizondo, Arizcun, Errazu, and even higher Amaiur (Maya) and Urdazubi (Urdax).

Where to sleep, where to eat?

– Casa Etxebeltzea: in Errazu, 8 km north of Elizondo. Double with bathroom 60 €, breakfast 5 €. CB refused. This former noble residence, bordered by a small garden, is like the village: authentic, charming and steeped in history.

– Santxotena restaurant: Calle Pedro de Axular in Elizondo. Menu € 12.60 and € 20 (weekdays). Meal approx 25-35 €. Holidays first fortnight of Sept. Open daily midday and evening in July-August. Out of season, closed Sunday evening and Monday, and evening during the week. Open for lunch weekdays Tue-Fri, noon and evening Sat, and Sun noon. The best table in town! Navarrese cuisine, refined and fresh, made with good local products, and prepared by two talented women in the kitchen (this is the fourth generation in a family of cooks): heifer stew, tournedos from the valley, white beans with clams.

Roncesvalles (Roncesvalles)

– Hotel Roncesvalles: in the casa de Beneficiado, which communicates with the collegiate church of Roncesvalles. Open from March to mid-Dec. Doubles 65-85 € depending on season; breakfast: 10 €. Menus 11-26 €. Dishes 9-16 €. Dish for pilgrims 12 €. A hotel installed in historic walls, with a decoration of character and prices that have remained reasonable for the quality of the place.

– Hotel Burguete: calle San Nicolás, 71, in the village of Auritz-Burguete, 3 km south of Roncevaux. Phone.: 948-76-00-05. Double approx 50 €. Meal € 14.50. Ouv April to 1 st December at the edge of the road, a robust house that looks a bit mountainous. It is as much a part of the pilgrimage to Saint-Jacques as it is to the Ruta Hemingway. Indeed, the American writer and adventurer Ernest Hemingway stayed (room n ° 23) in this inn during the 1920s. A small literary hotel not to be missed!

Saint François-Xavier (Javier, Sanguësa)

– Castillo (castle) of Javier: on the site of Javier (Xavier), 6 km east of the town of Sangüesa. Open daily 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. Nov-Apr). Entrance: 3 €; € 4 with audio guide.

Where to sleep, where to eat?

– Hotel Yamaguchi: carretera Javier s / n in Sangüesa, 45 km south-east of Pamplona. At the entrance to Sangüesa when you come from Javier. Leave: 1 st Jan and 25 Dec. Doubles 65-74 € depending on season, breakfast 7 €. Menus 13-26 €; card approx € 35. Modern brick architecture near a roundabout, at the eastern exit of the city. Excellent reception. In the restaurant, renowned cuisine from Leonardo, the owner who is also the cook.

– Hotel Merindad de Olite: calle rúa de la Judería, 11 in Olite, 40 km from the town of Sangüesa. Phone.: 948-74-07-35. Holidays: Christmas. Doubles with bathroom 60-68 € depending on season, breakfast 8 €. Menus € 22. Old family house housing a hotel of charm and character. Very good restaurant, serving tasty and careful local cuisine, beautiful wine list.

The Bardenas Reales

Access to the Bardenas Reales Reserve is mainly through the town of Argüedas, 14 km north of Tudela, on the national road 134 towards Olite. You can circulate in the reserve every day between 8 a.m. and dusk. Free entry. Everything inside the desert area is highly regulated.

– Bardenas Reales Information Center: from the village of Arguedas, direction Tudela, via the NA-134. Drive about 1 km, and turn left after the petrol station, it is badly indicated. Continue on a paved road to the Finca de los Aguilares. This office offers the best source of information on the region. They sell a detailed map of the Bardenas Reales. Leaflets on fauna, flora and culture. Can also put you in touch with agencies that organize guided tours on foot, by bike or by 4×4.

– Casas rural Cueva Bardeneras (cave dwellings): Palomares, n°46, in the village of Valtierra, 17 km north of Tudela. Phone.: 948-84-32-25. WIRELESS. At the exit of Valtierra, going towards the AP15 motorway, on the right, a sign indicates it. These rooms, set in a limestone cliff, have the particularity of immersing you in the rocky world of the Bardenas Reales.

Unusual Navarre

– La fuente de Vino (Wine fountain) is located in the village of Ayegui, 2 km south of Estella, 40 m below the monastery square and the Museo del Vino de la cave (bodega) Irache. A sign indicates it.

– Monasterio d’Irache: in Ayegui. Ouv 1st April- 31st October, daily except Mon and Tue, Wed-Sun 10 h 13 h 15 and 16 h-19 h. Winter, same hours, but closes at 6 p.m. It offers a fine example of a very sober Spanish Renaissance facade, modeled on the architecture imposed by Felipe II on the Escorial.

Where to sleep in Estella?

– Pensión San Andrés: plaza Santiago, 1. Tel.: 948-55-41-48. Doubles 38-40 € with bathroom, 32 € with sink. No breakfast. Very well located, this pension carefully maintained by a cheerful lady has clean and sufficiently comfortable rooms.

– Hotel Tximista: calle Zaldu, 15, in Estella. 1 km from the center of Estella, on the N-132-A, north exit towards Vitoria. Doubles 80-130 € depending on comfort and season. Our favorite in this category! The hotel was set up in an old water mill on the Ega river, at the bottom of a valley. The old building was merged into an ultra-modern ensemble with a highly sought-after design style. Also does restaurant.

Our favorites: the most beautiful villages in Navarre

– Elizondo, Errazu and Irurita: in the Baztan valley (northwest Navarre)

– Ochagavia: in the Salazar valley (in the heart of Pyrenean Navarre)

– Puente la Reina, Cirauqui, Villamayor de Monjardin, and Torres del Rio: on the way to Santiago de Compostela, between Pamplona and Logrono (la Rioja).

– Artajona, Ujué, Aibar: hilltop villages in the central plain of Navarre, between Olite and Sanguësa

– Corella: in the Ribera de l’Ebre, south of Navarre, around Tudela.

There are also small cities of character (larger than villages):

– Olite

– Viana

– Estella

– Sangüesa

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