Week #67 Heading North on the French Atlantic Surf Highway in our VW Campervan

Biarritz

We had a perfect start to the week, cycling around the coast line of Biarritz. Much to my surprise it was really undulating. The town of Biarritz is very glitzy and art deco in style, with golden beaches lining the ornate promenades. There is certainly a lot of wealth in this part of the world and we were in awe of some of the palacious hotels and villas we cycled past. There are many little beaches and coves and we enjoyed a picnic and a dip in the sea before heading back to the campsite.

The surf highway

Biarritz is also know as one of the surfing capitals of France and the south west Atlantic coast is a mecca for some of the top surfers. After following the coastal roads from Biarritz to Bicarosse, we can see why. We have visited several beaches on our journey, all stretch for miles with huge rolling waves jam packed with eager surfers. Even though we visited Anglet at high tide on a cloudy Tuesday lunchtime, the vibe was fab. The zebra crossings had surf boards not white lines, we followed the surfer hall of fame walkway and browsed the many shops there.

We have spent the week slowly making our way up the coast, finding places to stay using a combination of the Park for the night APP and the ASCI campsites. We found an Aire near Capreton that was right by the beach with electic hook up, wifi and an amazing bread van that comes round at 8.30am. We were seemingly the only fools that were boogie boarding at 9.30am in the wind and rain.

Our favourite place so far has been Biscarrosse. The campsite is based next to the golden surf beach in a forested area with cycle paths galore to explore the area. We have surfed and boogie boarded and generally chilled out for 3 days. Life feels pretty perfect at the moment!

Learning the hard way

Wednesday was a traumatic day for Richard and Nelson! We had stopped off in a forest picnic area for lunch in the shade. After a long, leisurely lunch, Richard headed towards the tarmac road as we drove off, only it wasn’t a tarmac road, it was a cycle path! Panicking a little, we veered off the path and tried to weave our way back to the carpark, what we didn’t notice was the carpet of sand hidden below the grass until it was too late. We were axel deep in it and stranded! We tried to get traction using our van mats to no avail. We were very fortunate that a French passer by took pity on us and managed to tow us out with the help of a group of cyclists who were pushing at the same time. Phew, disaster averted! It was such a fraught time that we didn’t even get any photo’s (probably best for Richard and Nelsons morale!) An important lesson learnt. Do not drive any where near sand.

Keeping to our budget goals on the road

We are still trying hard to keep to our weekly shopping budget. We have €140 per week for all our food and drink which is going OK so far. We actively seek out LIDL or ALDI supermarkets as we do in the UK for most of our grocery needs. The comparison between Spanish, French and English prices is quite interesting. In Spain we could easily keep to our budget, however, as we crossed the border into France, we immediately noticed the difference, especially in the fresh food, meat and veg isles. We are committed to try and eat healthy balanced meals as we keep reminding ourselves we are not on holiday, we are travelling for extended periods of time. It has taken a little more creative approach to meals but we are staying on track.

Out on the bikes exploring

After not even getting the bikes off the rack in Spain, we have had several rides out exploring this week. Biarritz was very undulating which was good to kick start my bike fitness! We completed a 35km cycle around the Messanges region through forestry and coastal roads, no bike ride is complete without the obligatory coffee stop. The bikes are also really handy to nip in and out of the local villages when we travel as we don’t need to pack up the van and take the roof down.

All this cycling has helped with our second early retirement goal of keeping active as we have both recorded nearly 500 minutes of activity this week on our garmins.

Slowing down and taking in the area

We are definitely enjoying the slow pace of life this week and exploring each area we come across. We have watched lots of sunsets and enjoyed the odd glass of Rose on the beach, we have walked for miles exploring and enjoyed quiet evenings reading.

Never trust a weather forecast

The forecast for the 2 weeks we have been in Europe has been pretty dire for most parts! Only 2 days have had a forecast of sun all day. Yet in reality we have had one late afternoon/evening of heavy rain and thunder storms and a couple of days where it has had a few of showers. It’s a good job we are live in the moment people and just get on with our day. In fact, the weather has been pretty perfect for us, not too hot, lots of sun and cooler days to get out on the bikes. We were worried about the nights being unbearable, but its been absolutely fine.

BUGS, a near miss

It would be remiss of me not to mention the campsite that was not meant to be! We had headed inland to stay on one of the lakes we had visited with our children decades ago on a Eurocamp holiday near a place called Gastes. It is a really pretty area and the lake and campsite are fab. The office was closed, but a note on the door said to set up your camp and come back and book in at 3pm. So we spent 20 minutes getting really cosy, the roof was up, the awning and bunting was out, and then we came under attack. I am not sure if it was just one angry bug or a few, but both of us could literally feel the bites like bee stings, in the space off a couple of minutes we both had several angry welts forming. We hastily made the decision to decamp, much to the bemusement of the French vans around us and headed back to the coast!

Respect the power of the ocean

I have found today particularly hard. We had set off on a walk exploring the forestry area and the beach when a helicopter flew over us and hovered over the sea right by our campsite. We saw the winch being lowered and thought they had found the person they had been searching for. However the helicopter searched up and down the coast for nearly an hour after this and when we were on the beach later in the afternoon, the life guards were patrolling up and down the surf for hours on their jet ski’s. It is obvious at this point that the outcome for the missing person will not be good. Sadly, this is not the first time we have been witness to this and it brought back the horror of being on the beach in Florida when the riptide took the lives of 2 adults right in front of us. I have always been cautious and wary of the power of the ocean, but today, I stayed on the shore and read my book. Hopefully tomorrow will be a much calmer day.

Tomorrow sees us heading further north, we want to explore the Dune de Pilat near Arcachon before going inland to Bordeaux and back out to the Ils de Re and Orleron.

Have a great week

Jackie and Richard