Ooh La La...!

The beauty of owning a campervan is that you can load it up with all the toys and drive south in search of wind, waves and warm weather. Dimi always leaves it to me to plan the road trip but it's not until a few days before we leave that the decision is made on where we shall go.

My initial thoughts were to head for Spain on the Mediterranean coast, the year before we had travelled to Lucate and the surrounding areas and scored some brutal winds but the weather had been bloody awful. Our main priority was to get some good weather and set up base for a while and just relax.

The forecast a few days before showed a series of low pressure systems winding up in the Atlantic so the call was made to head for a spot called Hourtin which is about 30km North of Lacanau armed with surfboard, SUP and kites. In the past years we have travelled most of the coast line from right up North but the Gironde region was a small bit that we had always missed out. When I was a lot younger I had surfed on numerous occasions the Hossegor area with a bunch of guys and girls from Guernsey but never ventured to the beaches of Hourtin and Carcans. 

The drive took us down to Royan from here we caught the ferry across the estuary to Verdon and from there it was a short drive down to Hourtin in the depths of the beautiful pine forests which cover the majority of this region. We checked into the campsite La Cote D'Argent which is about 150m from the beach and set up base for a few days of surfing, cycling and relaxing into the French way of life.

Whilst down this way I also managed to contact an old surfing friend of mine that was living in France in the next town along-a place called Carcans. Leigh drove to Hourtin and we met up and had coffee and a long chat about his time spent living in France with his good lady Anne and their beautiful daughter Lilly Jean. We stayed a number of days with Leigh and his family and we scored some good waves down at his local spot- Carcans plage.

The low pressure systems seemed to keep on winding up, back at home they were taking a battering with epic winds and lots of rain but this just kept the swell rolling in as they headed North......

The Royan ferry ride

Chillin on the campsite

aaah...I hate mozzies!

.....Oly, a friend from Guernsey was keen to catch some waves so he caught the plane down to Bordeaux where we picked him up and checked him into the hotel which was situated on the campsite. His timing was spot on with a low pressure sitting just off the coast forecasting a swell of 4ft increasing to 8-10ft with an 8 second period.
We scored some great waves during his trip with a couple of glassy, barrelling and heavy sessions. On the Saturday we could only watch as the swell had built to 8 to 10ft and the whole place was closing out. It gets seriously heavy down here when it's big with huge rips. There were a couple of brave souls in the water that day but I only saw one wave ridden and a lot of paddling. The best size to surf the area is around 4-5 feet as much bigger than that and it starts to close out.

Oly and I ready to do battle..

Chillin on an empty campsite

Glassy!

Not bad saying I don't surf a lot

I love this photo..

The big day and this was an inside wave-unfortunately it's not me!

Heavy!!

There are miles and miles of cycle tracks that go through the pine forests, just make sure you take plenty of water and sun cream as it gets hot and sticky at this time of year.
Not only is the surf pretty damn good but there is a cracking lake here which is about 15mins from La Plage which is called Houtin Lake. We stayed here for a few days when the wind was onshore and the surf was blown out,  you can kite or windsurf literally a stones throw from the car park and the water is warm and shallow. There is plenty of room and a dedicated kite spot with showers and toilets and a few good bars and restaurants to catch a bite to eat and chill out in after a hard day on the water. There is also a cracking Aires for campervans which is only 8 Euros with 24hr electric for just 2 Euros-absolutely amazing value.

You can't come to France and not have the moules...the ones on the campsite were the best..

...and if you want some tasty good value food then head to La Plage Cafe for the best snacks in town and probably the best gouffres this side of Paris!