Biarritz: the jewel of the French Basque Country
Biarritz: the jewel of the French Basque Country
Just as a hat hid an elephant in the world of The Little Prince, the fascinating architecture of Biarritz hides a wealth of life, culture, nature, sports, and good food. At first glance, this jewel located in the French Basque Country, just 40 kilometers from San Sebastián, is a peaceful and beautiful city where Instagram photos acquire undeniable attraction. But if one looks further, they will soon notice that vibrant stories flow under this city’s privileged surface – stories that feed off of a glorious past and project themselves into the future with enthusiasm.
Nature gave Biarritz the best it had to offer: a magnificent climate throughout the year, invigorating air, water with extraordinary properties, and the increasingly appreciated Cantabrian sun. The vibrancy of this city is based on its attachment to traditions and culture, something which creates an incomparable setting to live in, enjoy, work in, and visit. Along its streets, avenues, and parks, visitors can breathe a multicultural legacy and a French “casual-chic” lifestyle that sets it apart from its neighboring San Sebastián.
Thanks to Napoleon III and his wife Eugénie de Montijo, Biarritz became the place to be when they decided to build Villa Eugénie in 1865 – now known as Hôtel du Palais, one of the best luxury hotels in the world. Thus, aristocrats from all over Europe began to conceive precious villas that still shine with splendor today. The result of this brilliance is the famous Imperial Chapel, built in 1864 by order of the Empress, which mixes the Romanesque-Byzantine and Hispanic-Moorish styles and was consecrated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
While on the asteroid created by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry there were “good seeds from good plants and bad seeds from bad plants,” in Biarritz only the “good seeds” have germinated. It is not in vain that the city is home to, for example, a renowned list of hotels. In addition to the previously mentioned Hôtel du Palais, there are other top-notch establishments like Le Régina, Le Miramar, and Beaumanoir, as well as the recently opened Hôtel de la Plage and Le Garage and other lodging options that have just been renovated, like the Plaza Hotel and the Palmito Hotel.
The waves that bathe its coast deserve special mention: since the American writer and screenwriter Peter Viertel visited the city with a surfboard under his arm back in 1957, many locals from Biarritz have discovered the sport, which has quickly spread throughout France and the rest of Europe. Today thousands of surf enthusiasts visit the beaches of Biarritz every year. Along with surfing, the other star sport is golf: with 16 courses within a radius of 100 kilometers, it is considered by experts to be the “green queen.”
On its journey to eternity, Biarritz can boast having preserved its legacy in an exemplary manner. In fact, the city’s vocation to last and keep its idyllic reality intact translates into exquisite care for the environment, with sustainable initiatives and ecological policies for businesses and other visitable spaces. The Little Prince said that “what is essential is invisible to the eye,” but in Biarritz what is essential can be touched, admired, savored, and enjoyed.
Biarritz
