Itsasondoan: Cover                                                             CIBOURE                                                                 Start Page

From the Attic, to 90 meters, in direction of the port, we meet the quay Ravel, where there is the native house,
of Dutch type (with arches & bricks, made in 1636), of the musician Maurice Ravel.
Later, although he came often to the town, it could not stay there, since his parents had rented.it.
Ravel spoke fluently the Basque, as his mother ("this expensive silent presence that was wrapping me with his infinite tenderness"),
who had met the Ravel father, Swiss engineer, when this one came to work because of the railroad construction Irún-Madrid.
In 150 meters from here there is a beautiful house of glazed front, home of a ex-French minister
(who was a mayoress of Saint-Jean-de-Luz), now as renting flat for weeks (by Interhome).
The visit of the Church Saint-Vincent (XVIth Century) is very advisable, where it was baptized Ravel, and it's just behind,
with his belfry of oriental type. Made of beautiful alterpieces and wooden floor, it's of the unique Basque ancient style.
This town is known too for the special quality of its light, which is limpid, and delicately tinted gold. The shadows dance with light and color.
Exactly next to the city hall is the Tourist information Office, where
they offer all kinds of leaflets & brochures with information of the town and his surroundings.
  [Intro a Ravel, by the Labèque sisters]                    [Pavane pour une infante défunte]              (Central Oil, by Natacha Best, 1999)
In 60 meters from the Attic
there is this Pelota court,
that remains still very similar
to this painting of some decades ago,
and where anyone can play
freely the ball.

Nearby, there is a space for free parking,
next to the Town hall.
On the right, in these houses,
there are a pair of pubs
of very cheerful and kind ambience
(good sandwiches) , where they are shared perfectly the Basque, Spanish and French languagues.
Orson Welles uses this place and the entry of the Church of Saint Vincent, (below, in a picture of the ends of the XIXth century,
by Louis Emile Adam), to show to children and also priests playing the ball in some scenes of his
documentary about the basque ball, in 1955,
as they appear in these four shots.
In the heart of the old city
of the brave Basque fishermen,
the historical centre of one of the coastal towns which still preserve its Basque traditional charm.

Around,
the beaches of Socoa and St. Jean-de-Luz.
By the side of the Pelota Court
and the Town Hall, on Sundays,
there is a popular market, where are presented the products of the region.

Around, shops and good restaurants,
with a quick exit to the motorway A-63
(near to the big Shopping Centre "Leclerc", in 2 km
on foot from the flat), where Biarritz is in 14 km,
and Bayonne or San Sebastián in 20 minutes.
 
            Sokoaren ikuskera by IKUSKERAK 2010 
 
 
Jetty, Ciboure  August 1951, by Robert CAPA