Summer was great for catching up with friends and in addition to reuniting with several friends from Mumbai we also organised to spend time with Brett and Barbara. Brett an old friend from Kate's University days in Australia has been a long time Londoner. Despite living in London, Brett remains a keen surfer and when Kate called him for advice on surf spots for the summer he suggested Hossegor.
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| Ada and I "out the back" not that there were many waves to be out the back of! |
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Great little house between the beach and the "high street".
Between a BBQ and some cheap Bordeaux, what more can you ask for? |
Hossegor is just north of Biarritz on the Bay of Biscay. It is famous for its beach breaks and the relatively warm water supplied by the Gulf Stream. Kate found a great little house between the main beach and town where we met Brett and Barbara after our drive from Paris.
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| Feeding the ladies Part 46 San Sebastian |
The town is surf central for Europe and Brett likes to say it is a cross between Noosa and Torquay in Australia. I have not spent any time in either location so the comparison was lost on me. It certainly had a great “High Street” with up market surf stores, clothing boutiques, high quality boulangerie, charcuterie, and patisseries and a spectacular array of cafes.
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| The surf school staff were great and despite the language gap, Ada loved it. |
Within an hour of arriving we had Ada booked into a surf camp for a week with about 90 minutes on the water each morning plus sundry administration (boards, wetsuits and movement to breaks along the beach) and I had hired a surfboard that would hopefully compensate for my lack of surfing ability.
Kate and I scouted out a great run around a tidal lake fed by a channel from the ocean which also provided a small port for the fishing fleet and recreational boats. It was about 7.5km from the house around the lake and was the perfect step up for Kate’s training plan for the Dubai half-marathon.
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| Ada in good form on the left |
According to Brett, the area has a large tidal range and off shore sand banks that generate the surf which contributes to Hossegor’s reputation as a world class surfing area. This means that you need to get on the water when the rides are right The conditions for us were a little mixed with swells ranging between 0.5 to 1.5 m and largely on-shore or crosswinds.
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| Ada carving it up or falling off, one of the two. |
Despite the conditions and Ada’s lack of French, she loved the surf camp. The assistant instructor spoke enough English and she thought he was great. Even when the conditions were poor they still got the kids in the water getting a feel for the surf. This was perfect for Ada as most of her surfing had been done in the artificial confines of a wave pool in the UAE.
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| One of the best Tapas Bar in San Sebastian, crowded but worth it. |
It was easy to pass the days with a couple of surf sessions when the tides were right along with a run around the lake and a shopping trip to find some excellent local produce. If you did get bored there were plenty of day trips that could easily fit in between a morning and an afternoon surf.
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| Kate and Ada surveying the spoils. There were over 100 individually styled Tapas available twice a day. |
From our perspective, the best of the day trips was San Sebastian just across the border in Spain. To us it was like a mini Sydney with a harbour and great surf beaches and a reputation for Michelin star restaurants per head of population than any other city in the world.
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| Some more traditional Tapa. |
Lunch in San Sebastian can be had at one of the many Tapa Bars that line the street of the “Old Town”. We tried three but struck gold with Zeruko which was tapas high cuisine. Despite the quality of the food, it wasn’t expensive at two to three euro per piece.
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San Sebastian old town made for a great walk
on a full stomach |
I had been looking around Hossegor for a second hand surf board so I could join Ada in the water when we get some swell in Dubai but nothing seemed to fit the bill. By chance I wandered into the Pukas surf store in San Sebastian and found a board made by a local shaper who also produces boards under the Pukas brand. It was the right price and based on Brett’s sage advice was something that I could grow into a little without being so advanced that it would take me years to stand up on it.
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| The city beach at San Sebastian. |
