Happy in Hossegor

The Atlantic

I left Paris the day after St-Paddy’s day for Hossegor to meet up with C for her birthday, following the trend we had set in Spain. She met me at the train station with her girlfriend M. 

That day, we drove to Spain (a 45 minute drive), heading through the beautiful Basque countryside. We stopped off at M’s uncle’s stable, where her gorgeous Spanish horse is kept. The countryside is basically beautiful rolling hills, with little country houses, dotted with sheep and horses. We drove onwards to Spain for a “Clop et Alcool”, which what they call their frequent runs to Spain to buy cheaper tobacco and bottles of alcohol. There was no customs to pass through, no passports needed. One second we were in France, the next we were in Spain. Just like that. No mean customs agents asking us the same question in ten different ways. 

We headed back to Hossegor, and they brought me by the beach, which was virtually empty, except for some people walking their dogs. It is immense and wild looking. During the summer, it must be crawling with revelers and beach-bums, but at this time of the year, the beach and the town were still empty. After I got my fill of the beach, we were dropped off at C’s cosy place. Her bf’s mom greeted us with open arms. I was instantly set up in the princess suite, which I only had to share with Sherwyn, the family’s permakitten. I had my own in-suite bathroom, which C had placed bubblebath and candles around. There were freshly cut flowers and lindt chocolates by the bed and the curtains were drawn back to show the view of the terrasse. The house is a beautiful large one-storey building, that wraps around the pool and lovely garden. 

My time in Hossegor was wonderful. I met all of C’s friends there, who are either locals or have, like C, moved there to be with their loved one.

Friday night was a night out at the Café de la Gare, which had a great happy hour. Saturday was an all day barbecue. Sunday was an all day brunch. She is one well-loved, popular lady! Her time there is winding down, and I heard a few of the conversations between her and friends, where she was explaining that she had to go home and didn’t know if she was coming back, due to visa problems. Understandably, they were all upset. It must be hard to have finally made a life for yourself in a foreign place and then have to leave due to bureaucratic ridiculousness. Anyway, all to say that I had such a great time there. She and her mother-in-law brought me to the train and waited until I got on the train to begin my 24 hour journey to Rome.