Wintering in the Riviera: With Notes of Travel in Italy and France, and Practical Hints to Travellers
John Stuart Mill · en
There are three bathing establishments at Biarritz. One, and the
largest, is on the Grande Plage, between the Villa Eugenie and the
hotels, though much closer to the latter. It is a large wooden building
of one storey, in the Moorish style, and opening from the promenade,
three or four steps leading down at each end to the sands. When the
tide is low there is a long space of sand to traverse. At the west
side, where the rocks are, a rope for the use of the bathers is
stretched between two rocks running seaward. The second is on the
Port–Vieux, a creek perhaps 400 or 500 feet long by 100 to 150 feet
wide. The wooden building forming the bathing establishment, of very
neat design, with a balcony running all round, and a red–tiled roof,
is built on three sides of the square down to the usual high–water
mark. The fourth and open side is to the sea, which for a good way
out is hemmed in by rocks, between which a rope, slack but strong, is
stretched across the creek, hanging, in very low tide, considerably
above water, but in high tide having the middle part submerged. One
side of the house is devoted to the dressing–rooms of the ladies and
the other to those of the gentlemen, and long wooden stairs on each
side enable the bathers to reach the sands. A few yards brings into
sufficient depth for bathing, but at low water the sea goes back so as
to land one among the rocks, especially in spring tides, and bathing is
then not so pleasant, especially to non–swimmers; but this condition
does not last above an hour. When the wind is in the west, even when
hardly perceptible, there is more or less surf at the edge, and in
strong west or north–west winds the swell must be such as to prevent
bathing altogether at the Port–Vieux. But in this case more shelter
will no doubt be had at the Grande Plage, which is to a small extent
protected on the west by rocks. In stormy weather it must be altogether
impossible to bathe anywhere. The third bathing establishment is at
(though raised some feet above) the Basque beach, and is intended for
the convenience of those residing in that neighbourhood on the plateau
above. It is smaller considerably than either of the other two, and can
be reached from the sands by ascending a ladder or stair of steps, or
from the town by descending a zigzag path from the top of the nearly
perpendicular rock against which it is placed. The arrangements of all
are, I suppose, on exactly the same principles: little boxes under
cover of the establishment for undressing and dressing, towels, and
the usual appliances, including a tub of hot water to take the sand out
of the feet.