The Residency

An invitation to truly
inhabit a place

Mythes & Matières is not a tour. It is not a workshop retreat in the conventional sense. It is something quieter and more deliberate, a creative residency designed for those who want to understand a place from the inside.

Over five days, you will explore the Basque Country through its living artisan traditions, its wild nature, and its founding myths. You will slow down. You will touch materials. You will gather plants, listen to stories told under open sky, and create with your own hands.

These residencies are designed for those who seek to fully inhabit a place, to understand it, to feel it, to bring something real back home.

SLOWNESS :

Pause. Notice. Feel.

This is not a packed itinerary. Mythes & Matières is built around a different rhythm. One that gives you space to notice things. Slowness is not emptiness; it is the condition for everything else.

MATTER :

Touch. Create. Take home.

There is something irreplaceable about making with your hands. A leatherwork workshop with a local craftsman, a Basque cake baked in a farmhouse kitchen. You will leave with objects that carry the trace of your time here.

LAND :

Walk. Gather. Breathe.

The Basque Country is your first material. A guided foraging walk with a passionate herbalist, a visit to the Zugarramurdi caves. The land speaks, if you slow down enough to listen.

STORY :

Listen. Dream. Remember.

Every land has its myths. In the Basque Country, they live in the hills, the caves, the forests. An evening of Basque tales : Mari, Basajaun, Laminak draws the residency together around something ancient.

Five Days

A lifetime of memories

The rhythm remains flexible — attuned to the group, the weather, and the breath of the place.

Day 1

Arrive & settle in

Welcome tea on arrival. A gentle walk to begin to feel the land beneath your feet. Shared dinner in the warmth of the house. The first evening is yours — rest, wander, breathe.

Day 2

The land & its secrets

A full day outdoors. A guided foraging walk through Basque nature with a passionate herbalist — learning to read the plants, touch the earth, understand what grows here. Followed by an introduction to herbalism. Dinner together in the evening.

Day 3

Matter & hands

Morning in the atelier: a leatherwork workshop with a local craftsman. Learn the essential gestures of an ancestral craft, and create a unique piece to take home. The afternoon is yours. In the evening: the Basque myths and tales gathering.

Day 4

Myths & caves

A full day of immersion. Visit to the Zugarramurdi caves — at the very heart of Basque legend, where witchcraft and landscape merge into something unforgettable. Return to the warmth of the kitchen for a Basque cake workshop. Convivial dinner.

Day 5

Create, share & depart

A slow morning. Free creative time, group sharing, a leisurely breakfast. Time to reflect on what the land has given you. Departure in the early afternoon — hands full, heart full.