RENTAL PYRENEES ORIENTALES :

3 holiday rentals from 455 € / 7 nights

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The Basque coast invites you to discover its secrets and its culture! Formerly famous for whaling, the city of Biarritz was transformed into a seaside resort very coveted with the fashion of seaside baths of the 19th century. It must be said that the city did not welcome anyone! When the Empress Eugenie made her favorite place of residence, she was followed by many personalities of the European nobility. The presence of these remarkable visitors has not only greatly increased tourism activity but also left its mark on the architecture of the biarrots sites.

In 1864, the Empress ordered the Imperial Chapel, an architectural jewel combining the Roman-Byzantine and Hispano-Moorish styles. It was unparalleled in beauty and was listed as a historical monument in 1981. Thirty years later, it was the Russian Imperial family who visited Biarritz for the inauguration of the Orthodox Church in 1892. It is a majestic building that testifies to the Biarritz was attracted to the continental level at that time.

The Historical Museum, located in the former Anglican church, traces the history of the city through a vast collection. However, this is far from the only museum in Biarritz and certainly not the most unusual. For a visit that gives water to the mouth, it is to Planet Museum of Chocolate that one will have to surrender. After a welcome tasting, this gourmet course proposes you to discover the history of chocolate through a projection and a collection of objects. Once at the end, a hot chocolate prepared to the old way will waiting for you to finish in beauty. A real cultural tour is offered at the Museum of Art Asiatica. More than a thousand works from several eras are presented in order to penetrate the world of Indian, Chinese, Nepalese or Tibetan artists.

But Biarritz has never forgotten its link with the sea. It is on its beaches that a sport, now widely popularized, made its debut in France : surfing ! During the shooting of one of his films in 1956, the American screenwriter Peter Viertel falls under the charm of the biarrotes waves and takes advantage of his stay to practice his favorite sport, still unknown to the French coasts at that time. Since then, many surf schools have settled in the Basque city which has already hosted several editions of the French championships.