Biarritz Went From Whaling Port to Imperial Playground in a Single Century
In 1784 Biarritz was a cluster of stone cottages on the Basque coast, home to fewer than 2,000 people who made their living hunting whales from open rowboats. The last confirmed whale kill logged in local records dates to 1686, yet the town kept its harpooners on the payroll for another century out of habit…
