Olympique Biarritz is one of the top French professional Rugby Union clubs. In recent years, it has been one of the most consistently successful teams in the Heineken Cup and in the French Top 14. The legendary Serge Blanco is the club's most famous ex-player who still plays a role at BOPB today. The team plays in the traditional Basque colours of red and white and on match days, the entire town is awash with red and white flags as supporters come out to get behind their home team. Like the Welsh, the Basques are renowned as good singers and so traditional Basque songs can be heard in the stadium on match days.
Transport Access : Biarritz and BOPB are only 4kms from Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne airport. There are daily direct flights from the UK. Bordeaux is a two hour drive away and Pau only one hour.
Out and About: The Basque Country is the area around the western foothills of the Pyrenees. The areas straddles modern day France and Spain but, with a fierce history of independence and strong cultural identity, it is considered profoundly different by both the two countries it sits in. Biarritz was the preferred holiday destination of Napoleon III and as such, gained a reputation for being a fashionable and glamorous resort. Nowadays, wealthy Parisians flock to Biarritz for the summer as a less glitzy, more stylish alternative to the Cote d’Azur. Biarritz is blessed with beautiful, award-winning beaches that have earned the town the status as ‘Surfing Capital of Europe’. Many international surfing competitions take place here every year. The town centre is set along terraces on a hill, perched over the Grande Plage and stretching along to the coastal line of the 'Cotes des Basque'. The atmosphere is a wonderful mix of French and Basque that visitors can sample in the regional cuisine, little tapas bars and its gourmet indoor market (Les Halles). Biarritz is a real gem – not to be missed.
