San Sebastian | Bilbao | Pamplona | Biarritz | Baztan

In Hemingway's Path

"The Basques are a swell people"

Whatever one’s view of the complex life and career of Ernest Hemingway, few would dispute that The Sun Also Rises is a masterpiece, perhaps his finest work. To remind you: the story concerns Jake Barnes, a young writer in love with Lady Brett, a debauched British aristocrat, and their circle of friends. Jake makes his way from Paris down to Bayonne, a small Basque city 20 minutes from the Spanish border. From there Jake rents a car and heads for Pamplona. He drives through Baztan Valley, (which goes unnamed unfortunately; he must not have been thirsty while passing through Elizondo). From Pamplona he goes to Burguete to fish for trout in the nearby Irati River. Then our hero returns to Pamplona for the festival of San Fermin – the Running of the Bulls – and then to San Sebastian for a rest before returning to Paris.

All glory lay before him still Young, handsome and determined: Hemingway in his 1923 passport photo. The novel was three years away.	At the bullfights in Pamplona The young Hemingway cuts a dashing figure. In those days, just as at baseball games in the U.S., most men sported jacket, tie and fedora -- even in the broiling July heat. (One wonders who the other man in the black fedora is; looks a bit like Tyone Power, who played Jake in the movie.)
Fishing In the novel Jake Barnes (Hemingway's alter ego) goes fishing near Burguete in the Forest of Irati. The River Irati is an hour's drive from Pamplona.	The Keys to the Roman à Cléf Hemingway with Harold Loeb, Lady Duff Twysden, Hadley Richardson, Donald Ogden Stewart (obscured), and Pat Guthrie, Pamplona, 1925
The Famous Writer Now established, Hemingway smiles assuredly and tilts his fedora rakishly, somewhere between a young Olivier and the Godfather Brando.	A Bullfighting Dynasty The great Cayetano Ordoñez and his son Antonio flank Hemingway, 1959. Two of Cayetano's great grandsons are active today. Antonio was a model for Romero in the novel.

In other words, virtually the entire book, with the exception of Paris, takes place in this neck of the woods. All places are within a short drive of one another. One could actually plan an entire two- or three-week vacation following the track, without in any way slavishly following Hemingway. Paris is, after all, the most beautiful and sophisticated city in the world. After a week there, one can reach Bayonne by train in five hours, by plane in one and a half. Then it’s a matter of a rented car the whole time.

From Bayonne, one can follow the book and head for Pamplona, but stop in Elizondo to know Baztan a bit. It has its own particular feel to it. The back-roads way to Pamplona is curvy and beautiful, studded with fine small towns to stop at and rich countryside to take in. It’s a 75-minute drive but one can take three hours. Up over Otxondo pass, where a magnificent view of Baztan avails nearby and one descends into Spain, just as Hemingway did, just as Jake did, just as refugees from occupied France did in the 1940s.

One can spend a couple of days in Baztan Valley hiking and visiting the strange, ancient villages, or merely stop in Elizondo for a couple of drinks. Then it’s on to Pamplona.

MARK WOLDIN

Basque Country Tour Guide

To book a tour, call or email:

(+34) 660-976-422 Mark@BasqueTouring.com

In Hemingway's Path

"The Basques are a swell people"

All glory lay before him still

Young, handsome and determined: Hemingway in his 1923 passport photo. The novel was three years away.

At the bullfights in Pamplona

The young Hemingway cuts a dashing figure. In those days, just as at baseball games in the U.S., most men sported jacket, tie and fedora -- even in the broiling July heat. (One wonders who the other man in the black fedora is; looks a bit like Tyone Power, who played Jake in the movie.)

Fishing

In the novel Jake Barnes (Hemingway's alter ego) goes fishing near Burguete in the Forest of Irati. The River Irati is an hour's drive from Pamplona.

The Keys to the Roman à Cléf

Hemingway with Harold Loeb, Lady Duff Twysden, Hadley Richardson, Donald Ogden Stewart (obscured), and Pat Guthrie, Pamplona, 1925

The Famous Writer

Now established, Hemingway smiles assuredly and tilts his fedora rakishly, somewhere between a young Olivier and the Godfather Brando.

A Bullfighting Dynasty

The great Cayetano Ordoñez and his son Antonio flank Hemingway, 1959. Two of Cayetano's great grandsons are active today. Antonio was a model for Romero in the novel.