48 hours in Bayonne

Between two waters, at the confluence of the Adour and Nive rivers, between freshwater and ocean, between the Basque country and the Landes, Bayonne sometimes gives the impression of being constantly in between. Looking as much towards the Pyrenees on one side as towards Gascony on the other. In fact, Gascon was the official language for a long time. As a result of this tug-of-war, the town has grown accustomed to living in the shadow of its seaside neighbors, Biarritz to the south and Hossegor to the north. To the point where, out of spite, it was content to be a garrison town (the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment took up residence here in 1960), a somewhat staid sub-prefecture where, no doubt, people got a little bored. But that was before! Bayonne has come out of its lethargy and no longer relies solely on its festivals to attract the limelight. Now perfectly clean, the red, green and blue half-timbered facades of the quays, narrow streets and hidden squares, and the large 1930s neo-Basque houses of the Arènes district, are a sight to behold for neo-urbanites in search of a new equilibrium. The proof? Property prices, already overheating on the Basque and Landes coasts, have risen by between 11 and 18% in one year, depending on the district. Bayonne is moulting, ripening, pushing back - in short, gentrifying. It's still in its infancy, but it's undeniable. In addition to the charming Musée Basque et de l'Histoire de Bayonne and the Musée Bonnat-Helleu, currently closed for restoration, the Petit Bayonne district (between the Adour and Nive rivers), which once had a sulphurous reputation, is now home to third-party venues, designer workshops and cool boutiques. In the historic heart of Grand Bayonne, you can wander up and down rue du Marché, rue d'Espagne and rue de Pilori, visiting the cathedral, its cloister, Place Montaut and the ramparts (designed by Vauban, of course)... You'll find one young eatery after another, as well as good craftsmen and bookshops (the town boasts a number of bookshops per capita, one for every 5,000 inhabitants, well above the national average). As in all medium-sized French towns, the Dames de France have given way to the Galeries Lafayette, and the charm is gone. But what remains, of course, is a comparative tour of the chocolatiers on rue du Port-Neuf. It was via Bayonne that chocolate arrived in France, in the luggage of Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. Today, it's Cazenave, Pariès and Daranatz who (more or less) delight. But the charm of these sometimes slightly outdated stores has remained! All the more so if we add the more contemporary version with Monsieur Txokola... Bayonne has everything it takes to be a playground for imaginative and curious designers. Some have invented bicycles, others composite materials and robotics, while others are reinventing chocolate! Of course, for five days at the end of July, you can still go on a binge, and for some, drink more than their fair share of red and white wine; celebrate ham on Easter weekend for the past 560 years; enjoy bullfighting in the undeniably charming pocket arenas; and sing the Pena Baiona anthem in unison for rugby fans.... For some, all this may sound a little old-fashioned, overdone or even overplayed. But that would be to misunderstand the generous, playful, laughing soul of a crossroads town where you can buy fish along the Allées Marines at the end of a boat, have a drink at Lekua (in Anglet, in fact), opposite the cranes in the port (which ranks as France's 9th-largest commercial port), or try a kebask (Basque kebab) at Basa, housed in a former courthouse...