Espelette and Ainhoa, Villages of Labourd

What it is

Espelette (Ezpeleta) and Ainhoa are two villages of Labourd (Lapurdi), the interior of the French Basque Coast, about 6 km from each other as the crow flies. Espelette is the pepper village, the one that gives its name to the protected designation; Ainhoa is a single street of Labourdin houses from the 17th and 18th centuries beside the Navarre border, with the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France label. Together they fill half a day on your own and with no tickets, and fit into a day with Sare and the La Rhune train.

Espelette, the pepper village

The piment d'Espelette has been a protected designation since 1 June 2000. It is planted from May and harvested from August to December. It used to be hung in strings on the facades to dry, then put through the bread oven and ground; today few producers still dry it at home, but in late summer and autumn you still see red facades, especially in the centre.

What to see:

• The castle of the barons of Ezpeleta. All that remains of the castle is a tower and a stretch of wall. It has belonged to the commune since 1694 and has been a historic monument since 2007. Inside are the town hall, the tourist office, at 145 Karrika Nagusia, and temporary exhibitions, including one on Agnès Souret, the first Miss France.
• The church of Saint-Étienne. A historic monument since 1925, with a turret-shaped bell tower, painted ceilings from the 17th century and a painting attributed to José de Ribera.
• The pepper from the inside. Several producers and the Etxea interpretation centre explain the cultivation and drying. In the village centre there is also an Ossau-Iraty cheese interpretation centre, open from Easter to All Saints.
• The market. On Wednesday mornings, a covered market of producers and craftspeople in the centre.

Two dates for the calendar: the Pepper Festival, the last weekend of October, with a mass blessing the harvest, and the pottok fair, the Basque pony bred on these hills, the last Tuesday and Wednesday of January.

For lunch, the Hôtel-Restaurant Euzkadi, run by the same family since 1873, beside the pelota court, cooks with the village's pepper in almost everything.

Ainhoa, a street of white houses

Ainhoa can be seen in an hour. The main street has half-timbered houses painted red or green and carved lintels over the doors; look for the one on the Maison Gorritia, dated 1662. There are panels telling the village's history along the street.

• The church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, 13th century, born from a former manor house, with two tiers of wooden galleries and a very ornate altarpiece. It is a historic monument for its interior decoration.
• The Maison du patrimoine, inside the tourist office, in the Bourg, with a panoramic screen on the village's history.
• The gardens behind the houses, along paths leading off the main street.

If you feel like walking, climb to the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-l'Aubépine (Arantzazu), on Mount Atsulai, at 389 m: about 45 minutes uphill along a steep cobbled path. At the top there are discoidal tombstones, three large crosses and, on a clear day, a view of La Rhune, the Pyrenees and sometimes the sea. Wear sturdy footwear; in rain the cobbles are slippery.

How to organise it

The practical way is by car: neither village has a railway station. If you go without a car, check the Txik Txak network's lines first. From Saint-Jean-de-Luz allow about half an hour to Espelette. An order that works: Espelette in the morning, preferably on a Wednesday to see the market; lunch in the village; Ainhoa early in the afternoon, and if there is day left, go down via Sare to the Col de Saint-Ignace and the La Rhune train, which runs from late March to early November.

In July, August and the weekend of the Pepper Festival, Espelette fills up: arrive early. Ainhoa is quieter almost always.

With children, a dog, in the rain

Both walks are short and work well with children; the climb to the chapel is better with a baby carrier than a pushchair. With a dog, walking down the street is no problem; ask before going into shops and exhibitions. If it rains, the visit comes down to the churches, the castle exhibitions and the producers' workshops.