I lived in southern France, a town called Pau, in 1980-81. There is a large Basque presence there. The people were very friendly (which I think is more a function of small towns than being Basque). I heard some Basque spoken. I was able to speak French with them without the criticism I found in Paris and Bordeau. The French spoken there was slower and with a nasal character. Words like pain and vin were pronounced (roughly) as "pang" and "vang".
As for the women there, some were attractive enough, but very few caught my eye. This had more to do with hygiene than looks, though, as I recall.
Part of my family and my last name is from Guiche, France which is near there I believe.