After lunch in Arcachon, I drove South to a holiday town called Mimizan. it was just getting dark when I got near and rather than find a place on the road in town, or at a campsite, I thought I’d turn off on one of the tracks into the forest I’d been driving alongside for hours.

The tracks are basically on sand, so i didn’t drive in too far to avoid getting stuck (I have experience of this in Morocco).  I parked in a clearing and found that I was next to a big lake.

When I woke in the morning it was really misty and a bit eery and there were big cob west on the bushes and trees.

As the sun started burning off the mist, I decided to go for a cycle on the track which went around the lake. I found small fisherman’s lodges and boats by the side of the lake.  Most of them has been camouflaged for some reason.  There were a lot of birds, so they may also have been used by bird watchers.  It was a fantastic morning and very quiet (I only saw 1 person and he was fishing from a boat). Here are some of the photos I took.

As the mist was clearing, I started to see the lodges.

I left Lacanau on the morning of 30th Sept and had a great drive through miles of pine forests and very flat land which stretches all of the way down to where the French Basque country starts.  The homes reminded me of US hillbillies.  There were all set back from the road surrounded by trees, single story and made of timber. In the compounds, were old tractors and cars and often dogs, sometimes on a long rope with outside kennels.

I drove to Arcachon which is on an estuary at the mount of the Atlantic and there is a large area of water they call Le Basin, in which they farm Oysters.  There are seafood and oyster shops and cafes everywhere.  When in Rome!

The surf is brilliant, the weather is brilliant .. everything is brilliant  …. oh, and did i say, the surf is brilliant?  I have loads to upload about my trip and movements, but the surf is so good that I haven’t had any time.  I’ll try and do some posts tomorrow.  I have some good photos.

My board was lying on the floor after a surf. It is made by Firewire and the brand is a Hellfire.  Firewire make several different boards and one of them is called a Spitfire.

A German guy came over and stared at my board and said to me: Iz Dat a Spitfire? ….. I really want a Spitfire!

I started laughing and wanted to say “Your Grandfather would have wanted exactly the same thing 75 years ago.”

I drove from Saintes past Cognac, Rochfort and around Bordeaux.  I was heading for Lacanau, a place my friend Chad had told me about.  He surfed there a few years ago and a remembered the name when I saw it on the map.

When I arrived the sun was shining and I saw nice sized clean surf rolling in.  There is no better feeling that that.  I got changed and had the first surf of the trip and it was great to get into the water.  I did learn how un-paddle fit i am though.  It is tough to get out at a beach break and it’ll take a week of surfing before I am properly paddle fit.

Everything is now so much better.

After the surf, I checked into my first camp site and got a great pitch under the pine trees about 5 minuted from the beach.

Monday 29th Sept.

Had an amazing day.  Got 2 surfs.  I currently have that nice ache you get in the back and shoulders after a good surf and am sitting outside the van writing this.  I’ll have a early night and get back in the water in the morning . . . PERFECT.

Pitch under the pines

I drove from la Rochelle towards Bordeaux and stopped in a town called Saintes.  I parked by the side of the road in what I thought was a quiet spot.  It turned out to be the main route through town and every time a car drove past at speed, my van rocked from side to side.  There was also a rave blasting out music until 1pm nearby (how times have changed, as few years ago, I would gave gone along) and unbeknown to me, I parked by an electric sub station and at 4pm, 2 guys turned up to carry out some work and parked behind me and chatted loudly for about 2 hours.

I woke up at about 8am and I decided to sit by the river alongside the road for 5 minutes.  I opened the van door, and closed it behind me.  I didn’t realise until I tried to get back into the van, that opening the side door doesn’t unlock the van . . the keys were inside, the doors were locked and it was a Sunday.

I had my phone with very little charge left and I turned to the obvious person in a time of crisis and called my Mum with details of the road I was in, my registration and the company I had breakdown cover with (that hadn’t emailed me details of my policy an who to call in a crisis).  I said I’d turn off my phone for 30 minutes to save battery and walked into town.   I was in shorts and a t-shirt with no money.  The worst thing was that I really needed a dump and couldn’t go into a cafe, have a coffee and drop off the kids at the pool, as I didn’t have any money.  I found the back of a factory and looked in a bin and found some nylon strip tape that is used to secure boxes.  I went back to the van and as the windows were a couple of inches open I pulled off the wind deflector on the passenger side, got my fingers through the gap and tried to use the strap to hook open the door handle.  I then noticed my puffa jacket on the back of the chairs and my van keys were in the pocket.  I got a stick and slowly lifted the jacket up and over the back of the seat towards the window.  Amazingly, I managed to get it to the window and take the key from my pocket.  Just when I had been resigned to having to smash the window, the drama was over and and huge feeling of relief descended.  I called my Mum and she was on the phone to the recovery people and I explained that everything was OK . . . I thanked the Lord and his saints

My locked van with the keys inside.

27th Sept – As there was no surf, I set off to la Rochelle, the home of French sailing, about 1.5 hours south.  La Rochelle is a beautiful town.  There are 3 large harbours full of sailing boats and activity everywhere.  An old white stone town with lots of tourists sitting in bars and restaurants.

There are cycle lanes everywhere including on all of the roads which is good and I cycled around one of the big harbours and stopped every now and again to improvise a workout when no one was looking, with pull ups from branches, one leg squats off a low wall and dips of railings etc.  I did a big loop and cam back to the town centre, where everyone was watching their local rugby team play Stade Francais (the Paris team).  I had a beer with some of the locals and hoped for a La Rochelle win and a party, but unfortunately they got walloped.

At about 6pm I decided that I’d drive south again and set off.