October 8 and 10, 2015: Biarritz. Seaside resort par excellence. Grande dame of the Belle Epoque. So not my kind of place. And yet, I had a wonderful day there. So good I thought about staying there instead of Bayonne if I were to revisit the French Basque country – at least until I saw the prices in the cafes.
I’m not fond of resorts, and I don’t much care for beaches – I have mile upon mile of golden sands just a couple of hours drive from my house, and I rarely make the drive. I no longer plan to visit tropical beaches on trips to Asia, unless I am really, really tired. But I love Nice – in the off-season, only in the off-season! – and I loved Biarritz. I don’t think it’s just because they’re French. Nice is a great town to visit quite apart from its (pebbly) beach, on which I have never set foot. And it’s a short bus or train ride away from lots of other compelling destinations.
Biarritz isn’t a particularly good base – Bayonne is better – and I didn’t care over much for the town, although there are a number of interesting buildings along the seafront. But the day I visited the sky was blue and the wind was strong, and there were enough rocks along the coastline to produce plenty of wave action, and that’s what I enjoyed. Since I visited the first time on a weekday in October, the ocean-front walkways weren’t crowded – I found the crowds a couple of blocks inland, on the shopping streets. When I went back on a Saturday, on a calm day, there were many fewer breakers and many more people. Since I was back in town to visit the Asiatica Museum I didn’t mind too much.
The bus from Bayonne dropped me outside the T.I., and I headed down hill to the ocean, roughly in the middle of the promenade. Walking north, at first I was right on the edge of land, but then, after climbing rather a lot of steps, I wandered under wind-blown trees to eventually arrive at a lighthouse and a welcome cafe. Public transport didn’t reach that far, so I walked back into town for lunch (forgettable) before continuing south, finding rocky headlands, one crowned with a Madonna statue, and a small fishing port where I could walk out on the jetties among the waves.
My visit to the Asiatica Museum was also enjoyable, although photographs weren’t allowed because a previous visitor had abused the privilege. Most of the artifacts were south Asian, with some Chinese ivories, and Chinese and Japanese porcelain, and some of the pieces were said to be unique. As in Turin I was surprised to find a number of early Tibetan thangkas and bronzes. Afterwards I indulged in a crepe de citron and coffee in one of the cafes overlooking the beach.
Don’t remember if I told you we met some travelers in Thailand who were from Biarritz and their description of its geographical location put it on my list of places to visit. Thanks for the report! I like the wide photo of the beach.
Thanks John. I took a lot of photos! The Casino and the Museum of the Sea are Art Deco.