Every design for Anglet

Ever wondered where the French Basque Coast actually begins? The answer is a cave at Anglet, the Chambre d'Amour, at the southern end of a run of eleven beaches that stretches north to the mouth of the Adour. Anglet sits between Bayonne and Biarritz in the old Basque province of Labourd, although its people traditionally spoke Gascon, and it is where the long sandy coast that starts at the Gironde estuary finally runs out.

Ask anyone who grew up here and they talk about pine before they talk about sand. The forests of Chiberta, Pignada and the Lazaret cover a tenth of the commune, and the paths through them lead to beaches called Les Cavaliers, La Madrague and Les Corsaires. Inland there is the old Lavoir du Houndaro, the Esplanade du Polo looks out over the water, and the Galerie Georges-Pompidou keeps the town's exhibitions. The shoreline is so closely watched that Anglet has become a laboratory for studying coastal erosion.

If you know which of those eleven beaches is yours, and which forest path takes you there, this map belongs to you. Take it inland with you for the days when the Atlantic feels far away.