Pays Basque

Each year, there's a folklife festival on Washington's Mall, highlighting different cultures across the world. A worthy goal given the apparent need for all of us to better understand each other... I was psyched when I saw that one of the groups of people were going to be from the Pays Basque (the area to the south west of France on the border with Spain). But a bit disappointed when I found out they were all from the Basque region in Spain. No wonder they looked at me funny when I spoke French to them ;) 

oh well, this gent, featuring the typical beret and bandana agreed to pose for a quick portrait and then proceeded to look very demure, while he'd been all bright smiles when we were chatting. Still, his eyes are smiling, don't you think? :)