A WEEKEND ESCAPE TO BIARRITZ: PART 1

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog article like this; one with a multitude of words and photos (so many that I’ve had to split the weekend round-up in two) and I can’t wait to take you on this little escape with me! I haven’t travelled much during the past nine months, for obvious reasons and because I was deep into the writing of my book. But travel is one of my main inspirations for my work (and life) and photography, so I cannot tell you how good it was to escape the city for a weekend by the sea, to breath in fresh coastal air, dine on seafood and explore one of France’s most famous seaside resorts - after six months of not being able to easily leave Paris due to curfews and confinements. It was also the first proper weekend away with my boyfriend, where we could travel further than a couple of hours and dine in restaurants together! (As we met in September of last year, just before the second confinement in Paris.) We took the camera everywhere and I was giddy as a child snapping away at all the sights, despite this being my third time to Biarritz. (The first when I was a small child with my parents and the second around five years ago on the way back from a wedding in the Basque country.)

However we almost didn’t make it to Biarritz this weekend. I was watching the weather all week and it said rain the entire weekend, so I actually cancelled last Tuesday. Then on Thursday the weather forecast changed to rain only on Friday and sun all weekend, so I quickly contacted the agency and thankfully they re-booked everything. We were invited to stay at Hotel du Palais - Biarritz’s five star hotel (part of the Hyatt Unbound Collection) that perches on the hill to the left of the town’s main sandy beach and has the best view of the sea. It exudes luxury, from the exterior, the chandelier-filled restaurant with a 180 degree view of the sea, the elegantly decorated bedrooms and the beautiful heated salt water pool to the staff - making the hotel and experience fit for a queen. And rightly so as Emperor Napoleon III, the last emperor of France built the former imperial palace for his wife, Eugenie in 1854 and put the small seaside destination on the the map.

We did indeed arrive at the hotel during the middle of a rainstorm (which you would have seen if you were following along on my Stories) and I was crossing all my fingers and toes that the sun would shine for weekend. Despite the wet weather, we ventured into town Friday evening with coats and a huge umbrella to find a covered terrasse where we could enjoy a little apèro before dinner. We were lucky enough to find a table at Le Café du Commerce opposite le Marché and ordered Padrón peppers, couteaux a la plancha (grilled razor clams) and wine before heading back to the hotel for dinner (fish & chips). There we treated to the most spectacular sunset (see photos below), as the rain stop and a huge fiery red sun descended from the clouds as it began dipping its heard into the sea.

Saturday morning we woke up to the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach and blue skies! After breakfast in the room, we ventured into town to explore and dine on seafood for lunch at the famous Bar Jean, also next to the market. In fact the entire row of restaurants and bars that line the market looked good and we ended up eating at three!

Following lunch we strolled back towards the seafront and explored the different look-out points - there are a good 3 or 4 worth visiting and then made our way back to the hotel to change for dinner on the terrace and to enjoy another dazzling sunset! Thanks for reading and I hope you are doing ok! You can also scroll down for all of my outfit details.