Fotografi a Biarritz

Biarritz is the Atlantic doing the work: swell, spray and long golden evenings against Belle Époque stone. The Rocher de la Vierge is the signature — a sea rock crowned by a white Madonna, reached by a footbridge from Eiffel's workshops — and it shoots two ways: from the rock looking back at the coastline, and from the Esplanade above with waves detonating around it; in a big swell the spray clears the bridge, so time your crossing. The Port Vieux cove beside it is sheltered and intimate for couples. The Grande Plage gives the classic frame of striped tents and the Hôtel du Palais, Napoleon III's gift to Eugénie, while the Côte des Basques — surfers in the water, the Villa Belza silhouetted on its point — owns sunset; note the beach vanishes at high tide, so check the hour. The lighthouse at Pointe Saint-Martin closes the day with the whole bay below. Proposals: Rocher de la Vierge at golden hour, wind guaranteed.