The French may not be the best at winning wars, but they’ve managed to hold on to a pretty fantastic country all the same. They’ve got the Alps rising out of the placid mediterranean waters of the southeast, the rugged celtic coast of the north west, the endless vineyards of the Aquitaine region tumbling down to meet the Atlantic swell – no wonder they’re so patriotic.
If you happen to live in Europe this is all lying on your doorstep, and I believe it should be lavishly taken advantage of. Organising a France surfing invasion is a good place to start.
Surfing in France has two extremes – firstly there’s the cold water winter sessions in the almost British conditions of Brittany and Normandy. To surf in those steely French waters a 5mm wetsuit would be advised year round, but the hardy adventurer will be rewarded with big churning swells and surf sessions to tell the grand kids about.
The other extreme is to be found on the shimmering beaches of the south-west from May to October. In Biarritz, a beautiful seaside town not far from Bordeaux, a surfer can lounge around in the sun ogling the lithe bodies passing by, deciding every now and then to take a leisurely paddle in the warm waves.
In the evening time Biarritz offers a night life to be reckoned with, so after a surf just go to a bar and patiently wait for the nightly drink fuelled madness to get going. The climax of the season is in October when the French leg of the surfing world championships pass through Hossegor; another little wave battered outpost just north of Biarritz.
So, my advice would be; don’t let the French have all the fun – there’s enough surf in France to go around.
