A public figure who is very comfortable with his fans when he is in Paris, Christophe Hondelatte changes completely when he returns to his native lands. In Bayonne, where he owns a typical Basque house, not far from the city center, the news storyteller for Europe 1 likes to live in complete discretion…
The other life of Christophe Hondelatte in his house in Bayonne: no cinema, no restaurants but…
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The photo is surprising. In jeans and a T-shirt, leaning against a stone wall, Christophe Hondelatte poses for the regional daily South Westdated September 2012. Title of the article, illustrated by so much smiling relaxation: “Hondelatte is refueling.” Jostled by a mixed review of his first album as a singer and thanked after fifteen years of good and loyal service at the head of Bring in the accusedthe host who celebrates his 62nd birthday on December 17, 2024 greatly needed to find serenity and tranquility. To get there, the Parisian microcosm is not really recommended. It was on his native lands, in the Basque country, that Christophe Hondelatte went to catch his breath. In the city center of Bayonne, the host has owned a typical Basque house for decades.
The Basque house, with green shutters, by Christophe Hondelatte
This property which is still his refuge today, South West described it in a minimalist way: “Pretty little house with green shutters, nestled in a little paradise in the heart of the city, between Nive and Adour.” On the day of this meeting (a Sunday), Christophe Hondelatte had just spent his afternoon in the kitchen preparing dinner for a few friends. “I love cooking in the summer”specified the short-lived presenter of France 2's 1 p.m. who has suffered from voice problems for twenty years. For the rest, nothing will be added to this “little paradise between Nive and Adour”. Like this photo illustrating the article, the “green shutters” will remain closed…
It must be said that in Bayonne, far from the nests of Parisian vipers, Christophe Hondelatte values his provincial tranquility. “I was born in Bayonne, I did my secondary studies there and I started at Radio Bayonne”underlined Dave's best enemy in 2008, still in the regional daily press title. “I lived for three years in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, five years in Biarritz, but I came back to Bayonne, where I have a house. This city is my base camp and I return there as much as I can, on weekends and almost two months in summer.”
Christophe Hondelatte doesn't just tell stories… He also cultivates!
So what? Christophe Hondelatte at home, what does that mean? Usually very secretive about the personal side of his life at a hundred miles an hour, the ex-depressive host lifted a modest veil over his Bayonne daily life in the columns of Sunday newspaper in August 2023. A fan of gardening, we learned that he would not let anyone handle the hoe or the pruning shears for him. His land, this famous “little paradise”il “maintains it himself”. “In contact with nature, the pressure fallsadmitted Christophe Hondelatte. I hoe, I water, I add fertilizer.” And in rainy weather (so common in the region)? “I'm there even when it rains!“
Once the garden is to his liking, it is Jacko's turn to be favored by Christophe Hondelatte. 9-year-old wire-haired fox terrier, never far from his master, the doggie requires the greatest attention! “He is very playful and not very obedientlaughed the master with his fragile health, completely crazy about his animal. It takes a lot of availability to take care of him, I entertain him and walk him several times a day. Its main activity? Running after your ball.”
And Christophe Hondelatte in Bayonne? What is he chasing? “From the gland!”he had fun in the JDD. “I get up late, shave late, and dress late.” A praise of slowness which contrasts radically with his life in the capital, much more rhythmic. Another big departure from his Parisian socialities: in Bayonne, Christophe Hondelatte feels free to refuse everything. “He assures that he does not frequent any public place, no cinema, theater or restaurant.” A more than accepted ascetic life. “In Bayonne, cultural life tends to take place during the week anywayconfided the host who was violently attacked in 2010. But if I have to referee, then I choose a jazz or classical music concert.”
You will never find Christophe Hondelatte blowing kisses in prominent places or rowdy events. Biarritz, the trendy neighbor? Very little for him! “I love Biarritz which is more cosmopolitan, he admitted in South West in 2008. But sometimes a little arrogant because she knows she is beautiful and fashionable. Bayonne, which looks at itself a little, gives a dose of modesty to Biarritz.” Christophe Hondelatte wants his life in Bayonne to reflect his image: simple and discreet, not to say secret… Prune your rose bushes, throw the ball to Jacko, take advantage of a slower temporality and above all not be under any pressure.
A recording studio in his house in Bayonne
It is with this in mind that Christophe Hondelatte added a final tab to his Bayonne home: in order to escape Parisian stress as much as possible, he installed a recording studio some time ago. Enough to play provincial overtime by recording your daily meetings in Europe 1 without going through the Paris box.
“I am aware that it is a great privilege to be able to alternate between the calm of the province and the vibration of the capital”agreed Christophe Hondelatte in the JDD. A luxury to which many colleagues aspire without achieving it. “What I like about Bayonneconcluded the former favorite target of the CSA in South West in 2008, itThese are his excesses. We party too much, we stay up too late, we talk and play music too loud.” Quite the opposite of his daily life there.
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