The Californication of Biarritz 0
Biarritz has long been known as the surfing capital of France — ever since the American screenwriter Peter Viertel arrived on its beach during the filming of “The Sun Also Rises” in 1956. Nowadays, major surf brands like Quiksilver and O’Neill have offices, shops and competitions in the area. But lately, a more indie surf-meets-art-meets-fashion scene has sprung up, as cool young Parisians settle into this grand old town overlooking the Atlantic. Their presence — not just in summer but increasingly year-round — has transformed Biarritz and its surrounding beach towns from what was once a resort for bourgeois retirees into a breezy bohemian outpost that has come to be called “the French California.” It’s sunnier, friendlier and more rough-hewn than much of France, tied by its hardy Basque roots to its Spanish neighbors just over the border.
“St. Tropez used to be the cool place to be in France, but it became too bling-bling, so the real cool is here now,” says Thibault Taniou, 30. He and his girlfriend, Audrey Perrot, 28, met as classical dancers in Paris but now live here full-time. They own a minimalist fashion boutique, In the Middle, which stocks hip labels like Grenson and Warriors of Radness. “Madonna visited Guéthary two summers ago,” he says with pride, referring to a trendy rustic village down the coast. (She came with her young boyfriend, the French model-dancer Brahim Zaibat.) Other famous Biarritz-goers include the actress Monica Bellucci and the French electro singer Sébastien Tellier, whose cheesy-sensual hit, “Roche,” begins, “I dream of Biarritz in summer.”
