"Beer? Ritz?" "No, dear, Biarritz!" (Biarritz (France))

Member Name: apuskiduski

Product:	Biarritz (France)
Date:	19/03/09 (370 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Surfer's paradise, close to Spain, A few museums,shopping, FOOD and BEER

Disadvantages: Poor public transport, expensive to stay here

Last year we had a fab fortnight in France, spending three nights in Bordeaux - which I've already reviewed - and a week in a gorgeous house with a pool near Hossegor, a surfing town about an hour away from Biarritz. We finished off the tour with a few nights on the Ile D'Oleron, which will probably be reviewed shortly no doubt.

And, I have to say that a lovely time was had by the whole party, well perhaps not our friends from Edinburgh who had an adopted daughter for the hotels - we have an imbalance of girls you see, they have one, we have three. So, we averaged them out. Such generous friends!

Anyway, I'm waffling. On one of the days whilst at the house we decided to spend a day in Biarritz to see what all the fuss was about. The weather was rather inclement for August I have to say. We left Hossegor with the temperature gauge showing 12degrees - Brrrr!

Thankfully, by the time we arrived, the weather had picked up a little and we were able to dodge the showers at least.

Parking in the centre is relatively easy when you know what you are doing. It took us a while to get our bearings and find a decent central Car Park, but we could have done far better than we did I have to say. Discussion over parking became so heated that the word divorce was used...twice!

Anyway, tempers calmed and kids de-ipodded, we set out from the underground multi-storey carpark into the dazzling sun that had appeared and headed off towards the beach.

I learnt a few things about Biarritz while I was there, as I'm a bit of a history thrill seeker if I'm honest.

The resort was made famous by Princess Eugenie in the mid 1800s when she and her husband, Napoleon III, decided to have a second home, the Villa Eugenie, built there in 1855. That building is now the Hotel du Palais. A reputation for taste and elegance quickly spread and everyone from the rich, famous or aristocratic council tax bands came flooding in to enjoy the bracing air, dip their toes in the Atlantic or get the gossip on their neighbours.

The popularity continued into the twentieth century and a new craze developed when Peter Viertel, the American script-writer, had some time off from filming 'The Sun Also Rises'. He tried out a new 'surfing board' that had arrived from California and that was that. Surf city was born!

Since that time, the beaches have been the main tourist attraction and, since the main attraction was now surfing, the tourist demographics also changed completely. Some say for the worse, arguing that Biarritz lost the Ritz element, but gained plenty of the Beer! I won't start a debate here, but I have to say we stood, overlooking the Grande Plage and simultaneously said "Scarborough!"

How bizarre: a glitzy Basque town mirroring somewhere in North Yorkshire. Perhaps they'd run a twinning programme that we knew nothing about.

The Atlantic, on the day of our visit, was performing at its very best for tourists who like wild tides. But that meant the surfer types amongst us were deeply disappointed.

Not to worry, the town had plenty to offer, we knew this as we had our trusty Michelin guide with us and a map we'd picked up in a tourist office.

Our first port of call was going to be the Rocher de la Vierge, or the Virgin's Rock. I'm always amazed at the fact you can never escape religious icons in France and Biarritz is no exception. The town's main landmark is a statue of Mary perched precariously on a rock, staring out into the vast ocean, as if trying to calm the savage waves. It is surrounded by reefs on all sides and the footbridge that joins the rock to the shore, built by Eiffel - engineer husband was in raptures at this little gem - is totally impassable in rough weather. Namely, that day!

But a few of the mindless idiots amongst us just had to have a go didn't they! Wow those waves were wet! And it was indeed totally impassable. But we didn't care because the sun was beating down on us by now and we quickly dried.

The sealife centre (Musee de la Mer) was close by and we thought we'd give this a go until we saw the queue. It was worse than the run on Northern Rock, so we abandoned that idea and caught a few rays while we had the chance.

After an hour in the sun we decided food was needed so we found a place to grab a galette and a pancake or two. A cosy little corner café with a vast array of beers was chosen and we sat here to gather our thoughts. Thoughts like "How much is this going to cost?" "Do you think we'll have to sell a child?" and "How fast can you run?"

Needless to say, we didn't have to run and no one was prosecuted as we had enough cash after all. (Amazing how much pocket money kids of today carry round with them, don't you think?) The food was OK, but only just. Beer and wine, well that was mighty fine!

Weather now changeable, we left the café and headed for the Chocolate Museum which was a long, long, long ,long walk with four slightly moany teenage types trying to dodge the showers.

We passed another beach on the other side of the headland, which amongst the showers, made for a fantastic photo opportunity. It was a beautiful, sheltered bay called the Plage du Port-Vieux, very family friendly and popular with the topless types.

Our journey to the Chocolate Museum took longer than we expected and we longed for a little shuttle bus to be able to hop on. But, buses, there were none! Very poorly marked public transport here, in complete contrast to Bordeaux, we found. And as the town is along a coastline you have to walk, drive or bus(if you can find one) to one end then retrace your steps on your return journey - almost.

There are some little back streets away from the promenade that do offer some variety and shelter from the sun when it decides to split the pavement, but overall we didn't find the tiring walk enjoyable. "Walking boots next time girls" I could hear my husband thinking. Grrrr!

We managed to find a few curiosity shops where we bought cows for the collection (my eldest daughter) and a cello for the collection (same suspect, but only an ornamental one thank goodness!) A market was in full swing and we could have spent a couple of hours spending our hard earned cash there but we had to move on.

Well, we finally arrived at a cool whitewashed building that was nothing like the image I had in my mind, having heard about Cadbury world from the girls. Not a splash of purple in sight!

For about 7 Euros and 5 Euros for kids, we had a free sample of three kinds of chocolate buttons, a cup of hot chocolate - clearly the real stuff- and a film in French, but easily decipherable, as there were a lot of graphics that explained the origins and production of the devil's food! (Just kidding) We had a lovely saunter around the exhibits for about 20 minutes and the same in the shop - why do my kids have such a stationery addiction?

All told, this was an interesting little diversion and one that we'd been lucky to find, evidently, because it was now 5pm and the very hottest part of the day. Sun hats at the ready, we wandered back into town to have a look around the shops which stay open until 7 or 8pm. It was a glorious evening and we were planning to return the next day for the famously spectacular fireworks display they have every year on the 15th August.

It never materialised though, because the weather was so rough that they were a washout, apparently. Basque town mirroring North Yorkshire resort: how bizarre!

I hope this whistle stop tour of Biarritz has tickled your tastebuds for the resort and you manage to put it on your to do list. It's easily accessible by budget airline and not too far from Northern Spain to visit from there either.

I enjoyed the day out but can't say I'd want to spend any longer there. It's definitely a surfer's paradise, but an expensive and slightly tired one at that. Hossegor was much cheaper for us and a touch friendlier I thought. Bon Chance!

Summary: Biarritz - twinned with Scarborough, North Yorks.