Les Halles market in Biarritz opens at 7am. Before 8am, there are almost no tourists — just locals, restaurateurs doing their morning shop, and producers finishing their stalls. This is the hour when you talk with Madame Idiart about her ewe’s-milk cheeses from her farm in Tardets, when the fishmonger from Saint-Jean-de-Luz port goes through the morning’s catch, when the Basque charcutier lets you taste without pushing a sale. Prices don’t change, but availability is far better, and the atmosphere — still half-asleep, still local — is worth more than any guidebook.
Living Biarritz