Saint-Palais → Ostabat-Asme

A brief walk through Basque pastoral countryside between Saint-Palais and Ostabat-Asme. The green rolling hills are dotted with white-walled farmhouses and free-ranging sheep.

Ostabat has been important since the Middle Ages as the meeting point of the three great French pilgrimage routes: the Via Podiensis (from Le Puy), the Via Lemovicensis (from Vezelay), and the Via Turonensis (from Tours). Medieval pilgrims from across France converged here before the final push across the Pyrenees.

The village is tiny but its historical significance is immense. A small monument marks the junction of the routes.