Southern France → Family Time

Dear Reader,

Last week I was in the south of France with my family, a vacation that my husband especially, has been looking forward to for a long time. As you may have read in one of my previous blogs, we lived in Fuerteventura for an extended period of time. The nice thing about living on this island is the quiet life, it seems like you escape a little bit from reality there, from everything that is happening in the world, and that is very nice at times. You live in your own “island bubble,” everyone is relaxed, the sun shines almost every day, and surfing is I think 1 of the island’s great “attractions.” Whether it’s wave, wind or kitesurfing. We lived in Corralejo, which is a village in the north of the island, it has a very laid back atmosphere. And since we no longer live on the island, we are actually “looking” for a similar destination, but on the continent, so we don’t have to fly there, which with three kids is not our thing anymore 😉.

We have had a Multivan for a year now, which my husband expanded with a small kitchen, and traveling with our van has become an absolute favorite for us. So hop, Friday the 29th was the day, off to Hossegor, about 1300 km away.

And what do you guys think, has Hossegor become the Corralejo of the “mainland” for us? Absolutely, it even exceeded our expectations. How much we enjoyed, mainly the (rough) ocean, what a gift of nature that is, the ocean you can stare away into indefinitely. Watching the sunset together as a family, on a beach blanket, close to each other, leaves little to be desired.

But also the lovely people, the (predominant) surf culture, the delicious food and the nice stores. For us, it’s the whole package that makes it so special. Our children also enjoyed and we can empathize so well with their style of life, with the way the children grow up there. They grow up in absolute wealth, the ocean on one side and beautiful nature (pine forests, palms, olives!) on the other. They grow up with sports; surfing, skateboarding and you can see it does them good. For example, we saw a group of school students come to the beach to surf, as a school activity. Those kids were not even ten years old, but surfed incredibly well. And that, in turn, has a good impact on their lives, because if you want to surf in this rough ocean, you absolutely must have a fit and healthy lifestyle. In addition, what attracts us so much to destinations like this is that you live more in the here and now, more consciously, you enjoy more, don’t need 1001 things to be happy. A minimalist lifestyle, but that is precisely what makes it so valuable and special. So yes, our new place to be in Europe!

Some GO-TO tips in Hossegor and surrounding are:

1. The beach of Les Estagnots, in Seignosse, the “neighboring village” of Hossegor. You will find 1 beach bar here and otherwise a very relaxed fine atmosphere. Here too, everything is dedicated to surfing, you will find very wide (white!) sandy beaches and good parking facilities. Go here for a sunset too, so nice and cozy with all surf nature lovers around you.
2. The center of Hossegor is great, it consists of 1 long main street and some side streets and it is wonderful to wander through and soak up the atmosphere. You will also find many surf related stores here, Billabong, Quicksilver, Roxy, you name it.
3. The Boho Factory; as you know Interior Design is my absolute passion and let this store be exactly my style, many of the items come from Marrakech and are all beautiful. The owner is incredibly sweet and helpful.
4. In addition to quaint stores, you will also find delicious restaurants, coffee shops and ice-cream shops in Hossegor. What good food we had, highly recommended is the restaurant Amore, sits on the main street of Hossegor, go and find out y bon appétit!
5. But most of all surely the nature, a simple drive from our Air B&B cottage to Hossegor was an attraction in itself, the houses are all beautiful, surrounded by all greenery, people on their bikes incl. a carrier from which their surfboard hangs, on the way to the beach. What a richness, what more could you want 😊

By the way, the nice thing about the south of France, especially Hossegor, is that (of course, in addition to French 😉 ) you can speak both English and Spanish, and let us speak both languages very well. This is while there is such an international scene because of all the surfing, the French are then exactly the same attitude, open and friendly, wonderful, what a relief 😊. By the way, my husband became so inspired by the French language after our vacation that he signed up for a French language course right after coming home, the first lesson is already done, so maybe on our next visit to Hossegor, because it is definitely coming, he will be able to express himself in French a little better than he did this time 😉 .

Whether I practiced yoga as described in previous blog, yes absolutely. Every evening when the little ones were blissfully asleep I did some stretching exercises. For me, that’s a nice way to end the day. In addition, I practiced yoga on the beach with my girls, mainly with my biggest of 7, just in between all her gymnastic exercises. Should you perhaps have trouble animating your child to yoga, try introducing it through play. Children’s yoga offers children help to relax and discharge in a playful way. This improves their self-confidence and self-awareness.

I may not specialize in children’s yoga, but should you want to know more about it, please leave a comment below and a blog focused on children’s yoga may follow soon.

Coming back and concluding, Hossegor is our new favorite destination in Europe, on the continent. We felt at home there from day 1 and can completely relate with their lifestyle.

Have you ever been to Hossegor? And if not, what is your favorite destination in Europe? Let’s inspire each other, I look forward to be reading your comment 😊!

For now, have a very nice weekend and until next week.

Love,

Tamara