Biarritz is beautiful. Flat out gorgeous in fact. We had planned on our time in Biarritz being all about the food, the beach and some much needed relaxation, and I am pretty sure we hit the mark on all fronts with our short, but very sweet time there.
Biarritz was a place we had both been looking forward to, and as the weather was perfect (except for one slightly overcast day), the beautiful blue skies encouraged many coastal walks to enjoy the gorgeous architecture and stunning seaside views.
We would spend the next few days exploring the beautiful central precinct by foot, much of our time spent on the coastal promenade where we caught glimpses into Biarritz’s prestigious past – it was once the favourite holiday spot of Napoléon the 3rd in the mid 19th century – through the architectural hallmarks of this golden age, as well as the belle époque and art deco eras that came next.
Interestingly, Napoléon’s wife Empress Eugenie was really the driving force behind transforming this once-tiny whaling town into the fashionable summer resort it became, and still is, today. There is even a church named after her – the Eglise Ste-Eugenie was built in 1864, and is situated overlooking the ocean and a pedestrian plaza (and surrounded by tourist trap restaurants!).
To be honest, after spending the last 1-2 weeks solidly ‘site-spotting’, we were actually really keen to just enjoy Biarritz for what it was – a beautiful, easy to get around, welcoming town (with amazing food… more about this in a tic!). So apologies in advance if my photos do not accurately capture all the gloriousness of its beauty! Here is a snippet of some of the pics I did take on our numerous meanderings.
Eugenie’s Church and the Pedestrian Plaza
Some more spectacular coastal views
A quaint little sheltered harbour
One of the main drawcards for visiting Biarritz was for Dave to have a crack at surfing its famous waves. He kept an eye on the surfing conditions while we were there and on the last day, it was make or break – the conditions were still not great but if he didn’t surf then, he would miss out.
So we headed down to the Grande Plage which is the main central beach in Biarritz where they have these adorable stripy tent huts for rent by the hour or day, as well as deck chairs – very picturesque.
Love the huts!
I tell you, hiring beach chairs and/or huts, is something that is so popular in Europe, and Australia could really learn a thing or two and bring that idea home. City Beach in Perth could sure do with some ready-to-hire deckchairs, that’s for sure!
Anyway, Dave found a surf store along the Grande Plage Promenade, hired a board and a wetsuit, suited up and for the next few hours, hit the surf while I made myself comfortable, chilled on the sand and people watched.
Here are some snaps – check out that coastline – amazing!!
Grande Plage!
Time to surf!
Sandy feet and bright toes!
Following our long and epic days sightseeing, it only made sense we needed to recharge, and everyone knows the only way to recharge on holidays is to eat, drink and party with the locals. Am I right?!
The vibe in Biarritz was jovial, vibrant and the love of chilled wines and tapas (or pintxos, pronounced, “pin-chose” as they’re called in the Basque Region) shone through. Needless to say, we were incredibly excited to try some of the famous Basque cuisine we had heard so much about.
Basque cuisine is less about the really rich, stodgy (delicious!) foods we had been gorging ourselves on in the Dordogne region, and all about the light, tasty, fresh seafood and tapas-sized morsels of deliciousness…. YUMMO! Anyone who knows me, also knows about my borderline obsession for seafood, and my oh my, was Biarritz the right place to go!
We stumbled across THE MOST AMAZING ceviche restaurant, called, “Saline Ceviche Bar” – can you believe it, a whole menu based on ceviche… I almost quit right then and there and demanded to move to Biarritz permanently.
We ordered a couple of types of ceviche over the next few days, as well as a beautiful, fresh and zesty prawn salad, pictured below. This place was a highlight in the dining department for sure! (To see whether we are the only ones raving about it, check out the Tripadvisor reviews here, and here is their Facebook page)
Ceviche (and prawn salad)!
Right next door to Saline was another little dining gem – called La Cabane A Huitres (Oyster Cabin) and it was a pretty simple, but amazingly successful concept. Fresh seafood on display (imagine mussels, clams, prawns, oysters, squid, fish, sea snails – you name it, they had it!), and you basically pick what you want, they cook it up however they think it should be cooked, you order a bottle of vino, and bob’s your uncle! (For those interested, here is a link to its TripAdvisor.)
We started with some oysters and chilled white wine, then came some clams in garlic and chilli, some more wine, some chargrilled squid, some sea-snails, some more wine… you see where this is going, don’t you…
How every meal should start – oysters!
Trialling the local produce!
The Wine Blackboard
Somewhere between our first and second bottle of wine, we made fast friends with a Biarritz local, a very jovial Frenchie dude with a purple cardigan (strange the things you remember) who was enjoying his own bottle of champers on his own, and chatting to the bar staff. He practised his English on us, and I practised my French on him – we ordered more wine… and had lots of laughs.
Needless to say, the headache the next day was not ideal, but following a pretty cruisey day exploring, we had no other option but to sample some of the pintxos bars in the area for dinner again – we owed it to ourselves!
The pintxos bars in Biarritz are very similar to those in Spain – a small bar, with lots of outdoor / street space where the patrons tend to congregate and socialise.
Bar Jean – Stop #1 on our self-made Pintxos tour
Now, if you don’t already know, the beauty of these bars is that they have multitudes of tapas/pintxos/small bites – whatever you want to call them! – on the bar counters, each priced at about 1-2 euros, and generally served to be eaten with a toothpick.
YUM!
They work mostly on a trust system, so you might get a couple at a time, retain the toothpicks for the tapas you have, then pay the bill at the end.
We spent a fantastic night traipsing around and following the locals from one bar to another – the vibe is just terrifically European – everyone out having a great time, the vibe and energy is just phenomenal. There is no rowdy, anti-social behaviour and everyone is just enjoying the balmy nights, the cold drinks and the lovely little morsels!
All in all, the food, sites, energy and of course, the surfing, made for a fantastic and relaxing few days in Biarritz and I highly recommend going!
Next stop .. San Sebastian!