"La Maison de Louis XIV" - the 17th century house known as the house of Louis XIV, facing the harbour. The Sun King stayed here in 1660 when he married the Spanish princess Maria Teresa.
The house was built by a wealthy whaler and shipowner, and placed at the disposition of the King during the three months of his visit
The marriage was of great political importance since it sealed the Treaty of the Pyrenees, engineered by the Cardinal Mazarin (grey eminence to the young monarch) to put an end to the wars between Spain and France
The house was built during the reign of the Sun King's predecessor. Ironically, this means that the architectural style of the House of Louis XIV is "Louis XIII", as can be seen from its Gothic appearance.
The young King stayed in the manor named for him, and just downstream the Princess stayed in this fine pink-and-white stone palace, later named for her "La Maison de l'Infante". (Spanish princes and princesses are called "infantes" and "infantas".)
The square on the northern side of the house is named "Place Louis XIV". A few steps from the harbour, it is the bustling heart of the life of Saint Jean de Luz.
Every French town has its bandstand, and this is Saint Jean's "kiosque de musique". Concerts are held here throughout the year and especially in summer when the town is full of tourists (most of them French) avid to see displays of Basque folk dancing and singing. In the background is the steeple of the town church.
The Rue de la République leads from the square to the waterfront and the beach. Understandably, visitors usually refer to it as "la rue des restaurants", since there is one in every other house.
As you can see from this photograph taken at the turn of the century, tourism has wrought many changes, although the traditional Basque architecture has been lovingly preserved. The very popular brasserie Le Majestic did not then exist, which means that I would not have been able to feast on their excellent steak tartare, which is their Thursday plat du jour.
There was, however, a large English community here then, since the "Basque Coast" was very fashionable, starting with Biarritz, favourite haunt of Napoleon III and the bon vivant King Edward VII. The name of the boutique on the left hand side of the building suggests it was either run by English ladies or catered to them.
Visitez le Restaurant Txantxangorri, soit, en basque, l'oiseau rouge, le bistrot préferé de Lorenzo et sa petite famille, à un pas du Marché de Saint Jean de Luz http://www.txantxangorri.fr/
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