The best area for eating and drinking is along the right bank (Petit Bayonne) of the Nive and in the back streets to either side of the river, especially along rue Pannecau, rue des Cordeliers and rue des Tonneliers in Petit Bayonne. Two of the best restaurants in this part of town are the Auberge du Cheval Blanc, 68 rue Bourgneuf (tel 05.59.59.01.33; closed Sun eve, Mon in winter & one week in Aug; weekday lunch menus €19; booking essential), a durable gourmets' mecca specializing in decadent desserts; and Au Clair de la Nive, 28 quai Galuperie (closed Mon lunch & Sun; menu €15, à la carte €18–29), with a riverside terrace, serving tasty cuisine, such as roast anchovies and steamed cod in pepper sauce. In Grand Bayonne, Le Chistera, 42 rue Port-Neuf (closed Mon–Wed eve except July & Aug; menu €13, à la carte €15.50–19), is the best option, dishing up hearty Bayonnais specialities based on fish, pork and tripe, best ordered off the daily-specials board. The one culinary bright spot across the Adour is Le Bistrot Ste-Cluque, 9 rue Hugues (tel 05.59.55.82.43; menu at €9–13, à la carte around €15; bookings essential; closed Mon), which is perennially packed for its excellent-value French cuisine and is also a popular gay hangout.For bar snacks, head to Bar du Marché, 39 rue des Basques in Grand Bayonne (closed Sun), which begins serving food and drink at 5am to a mix of market sellers and bar-flies on their way home to bed, continuing with good-value plats de jour at lunchtime. Nearby is Bodega Ibaia, 49 quai Jauréguiberry (closed Sun & Mon Sept–June), a lively, well-loved bar, with plats de jour for under €8 at lunchtime. If you fancy an afternoon drink, try Chocolats Cazenave, 19 rue du Port-Neuf, which serves hot cups of cocoa, and also sells every conceivable chocolate goodie to take home. As far as festivals go, Bayonne's biggest bash of the year is the Fêtes Traditionelles, which starts on the first Wednesday in August and consists of five days and nights of continuous boozing and entertainment. This finishes with a corrida (bullfight) on the following Sunday. Following the festival there are three or four more days of bullfighting beginning on August 15. A well-established jazz festival takes place in mid-July, and every October there is a Franco-Spanish theatre festival.
|
