Back to the Côte Basque by Francisca Kellett

The coast offers an increasingly attractive alternative to the more popular Riviera. While its Atlantic breakers and first-rate golf courses draw a sporty crowd, families too are attracted by the laidback rural feel of the resorts, a world away from the flashiness of the Côte d'Azur.

The distinct Spanish flavour is an added appeal - the language is peppered with Basque, the food has spicy southern flavours, and the most popular sports in summer are bullfighting and pelota - the fast handball game played with wicker gloves against a high rounded wall.

The landscape, too, is thoroughly removed from the parched hills and calm seas of the south; here the Pyrenean foothills are lush and green, the coastline rugged and lashed by great breakers. The towns contrast agreeably with their unruly surroundings, from Biarritz's grand, ordered architecture to the picturesque, half-timbered houses and cobbled lanes of the smaller towns, more reminiscent of fishing villages than resorts.

A drawback of the Côte Basque is its unpredictable weather - July and August can see plenty of rain. But what once attracted Napoleon III and Queen Victoria is drawing people back today: stunning scenery, delightful villages and some of the finest beaches in France.