I feel like I have entered a St Jean de Luz film set of that classic 90's movie about the 80's. Over the past two days I have spent a combined fourteen hours at the weddings of people I don't know entertaining them, singing as part of a Basque choir.Weddings in the Pays Basque are a good deal more relaxed and social than those I experienced in the UK. People seem to turn up to (and leave) the service as and when they want, drink is ridiculously plentiful (we get paid in drink!), there are no akward silences and everybody (literally everybody) sings. The men are men and the women are beautiful.
Both weddings took place in stunning C14th churches followed by receptions on mountainside farms with breathtaking views of the Atlantic and Pyrenees. As the choir we were treated with the utmost respect, singing is serious business in these parts after all. I am confident with most of the songs but hope that presently I can stop acting like Marcel Marceau on the others. A wonderful way to experience an otherwise hidden world.
Basque of the day:- wedding :: ezteiak
