Take an English Victorian seaside resort with its grand accommodations, promenade and arcades, and plonk it a number of hundred miles away on a rugged coast overlooking the Bay of Biscay in South-west France.
Then give it a facelift, exchange the pebbled seaside with golden sand, the fast-food with tapas bars and fish eating places, and you’ve got Biarritz.
There’s a comforting familiarity in regards to the place — the pale gentility, crashing Atlantic waves and well-to-do aged {couples} remind one in all Brighton.
Decadent dame: Andrew stayed on the Resort du Palais, overlooking the Grande Plage of Biarritz
On the identical time, it has an injection of vitality from the surfers who descend in campervans for the thundering rollers on the most important of Biarritz’s six seashores.
British Airways began flying to town’s tiny airport final summer time. And, lower than two hours’ flight away, it makes the best quick break. We get pleasure from a charcuterie supper in a restaurant close to the seaside on the evening we arrive, though we had been in Heathrow at 5pm.
There are various first rate accommodations, however the place to remain should you’re pleased to splash out is the Resort du Palais, a stately matron on a small cliff by the Grande Plage.
Constructed as a summer time residence by Napoleon III — he selected Biarritz within the 1850s because it was near his Spanish spouse Eugenie’s residence nation — the imperial residence gave the city stylish enchantment.
As soon as the palace turned a resort on the flip of the century, the beau monde started to go to.
King Edward VII took a set for a month each summer time and was joined by his mistress, Alice Keppel, alongside along with his physician, two equerries, two valets, two footmen and canine Caesar.
Take a stroll: The resort is a 12-mile stroll from the charming fishing city of St-Jean-de-Luz
Noel Coward, the Duchess of Windsor and Churchill additionally stayed. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra opened the surface pool, the place as we speak rich Russians and Spaniards plough away.
The Resort du Palais wears its age and pedigree with allure. Its trendy spa and pool are as fashionable as any.
Its semi-circular, Michelin-starred restaurant looking over the Atlantic swell should be probably the most lovely locations to eat in Europe. But it retains an old-school method to clients that, removed from being starchy, feels reassuring.
Constructed as a summer time residence by Napoleon III, the imperial residence gave the city stylish enchantment
We stroll off our breakfasts on a cliff path that goes previous a lighthouse on a excessive headland.
From the lighthouse, we potter alongside the promenade and break off for a tumble-dryer of a swim among the many waves.
We eat fats Atlantic prawns and squid with rosé by the previous fishermen’s port — additionally constructed by Napoleon.
You’ll be able to proceed strolling to the sheltered previous fishing city of St-Jean-de-Luz a dozen miles away. As a substitute, we drive there one night to eat native seafood and farm produce on the Ilura restaurant in Resort la Reserve.
We additionally head into the Pyrenean foothills, an hour away, to cities reminiscent of Espelette, which makes use of strings of plump chillies to embellish its buildings, and Sare, well-liked with hill-walkers and harking back to the Lake District.
Lastly, we go away Biarritz by automobile for Bilbao, two hours throughout the Spanish border, to go to the outstanding Guggenheim museum earlier than flying residence.
However we’ll be again, Biarritz.
