Espelette

The pepper reached the Basque Country from the Americas in the sixteenth century and was grown here first as a medicine, then as a preservative for ham and finally as the seasoning that defines Basque cooking; the piment d'Espelette received appellation status in 2000, covering ten communes. It is moderately hot, closer to fruity paprika than to fierce chilli. From late summer the peppers are strung and hung on the fronts of the white houses to dry in the sun, which turns the village facades red, and the pepper festival in late October closes the season with a procession and a blessing.

What you actually see

• The hanging strings - red peppers drying across white house fronts.
• The Basque village - white houses with red woodwork and a fronton wall.
• The pepper shops - powder, purees and whole dried peppers sold locally.
• The October festival - the end-of-harvest procession and blessing.

When to go

August to October is the point of a visit, when the peppers hang; the festival falls in late October. Outside those months the facades are bare and the village is ordinary.

Honest expectations

Visitors outside the drying season find plain white houses and shops. The village is tiny and crowded on autumn weekends. Some peppers on display are decorative rather than the crop.

Nearby

Ainhoa lies south; Bayonne is north.