I woke up very suddenly around midnight, - stunned by the repeated bursts of movement of my truck, - with my current state of mind being in a mixture of surprise and confusion I could not determine the origin of these fast reoccurring impacts

I woke up very suddenly around midnight, - stunned by the repeated bursts of movement of my truck, - with my current state of mind being in a mixture of surprise and confusion I could not determine the origin of these fast reoccurring impacts. The truck was repeatedly tossed back and forth very heavily with short intervals. After a little while I realized that quite unexpectedly a storm had gathered during the early hours of the night, and transformed the calm weather we experienced at sunset into gust of winds filled with raindrops, and a constant pondering of waves upon the famous beach of Côte des Basques located on the coastline at Biarritz in the south-western regions of France.

The storm seemed to be detriment to make a concentrated effort and elevate my heavy Geländewagen free from the tarmac beneath. But after all, the gross weight of around three tons made the effort invade after all, - and very much to my likening as I was not prepared for at bumpy night-flight. I was not able to fall asleep again until several hours later when the storm had regained a more comfortably temper and had dissolved into a more pleasant breeze. I had already been parking in almost the same spot close to the cliffs above the beach at Côte des Basques for around a week that night, - and had never in that period experienced such gale winds, on the contrary the nights were usually very calm and often also hot.

The purpose of my presence in this place in Southern France was to spend a few weeks together with my son and daughter, and to enjoy the process of learning to surf together with them. Surfing seemed to make good sense to me, I kind-off look upon it more like a way of living I think, a lifestyle and a way of life. The aura that surrounds this water-sport appeals a lot to me. I feel comfortably with the relaxed and laid-back attitude associated with it; and the important need to adapt your daily rhythm to the weather, the direction of winds and the ocean-tide, potentially presenting you with lots of long periods of spare time to kill, - nice collections of moments available just to the task of doing nothing in particular. To just relax and reflect; to breathe.

Biarritz is the original birthplace for wave-surfing in France and Northern Spain which you certainly can tell by the amount of surfing-schools and wanna-bee surfers that show up here with their own or rented surfboards. In the high seasons of the summer-holidays it’s a very busy place, especially when the tide is low and the surf gets perfect. The original village-center and the tiny fishing-harbor is very nice and cozy, just like a French village is supposed to be with ancient building, narrow streets, local markets and lovely cafes on each and every corner.

The city of Biarritz is located just at the feet of the Pyrenees and also not to far from the wine-fields in Département de la Gironde, in witch the city of Bordeaux and the village Saint Émilion is located. Apart from the chance to learn to surf we also had the opportunity to have a closer look upon these regions. So in-between the breathe-time and the beach-time we went on a few one-day trips to these places. I have always wanted to visit Département de la Gironde and Saint Émilion to have a closer look at the wine-fields, which to some wine-aficionados is amongst the finest there is in this world, and also the surrounding community and villages. It was a nice experience although I´m really not all to found of all this wine-fuss, - you see cheap and not too old local red-wine will do just alright on my lips, I really don’t fancy all the arrogance that seems to be associated with these famous grapes and the soil they growth from.

Being close to Spain also meant that we could explore the city of San Sebastián in particular, and the northern Spanish coastline in general. On our journey alongside the coast-line we discovered several nice villages dotted along the shore and some beautiful beaches with a lovely surf. This part of the Spanish region of Pays Basque, not to far from the beginning of the pilgrimages route Camino de Santiago, is a lovely area with many green fields and forests squeezed in between hills and cliffs. The difference in ocean levels between high- and low tide makes for some wide beaches, and also a very special scenery in the harbors where small fishing boats are in the mercy of the current and the ever alternating seawater-level.

Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds MKIII, EOS 5D MKII
Lens: EF 17-40 mm. f/4.0L, EF 70-200 mm. f/2.8L IS MKII

We would normally just shop in a nearby small supermarket for the meal and only on a few occasions went to restaurants to eat; so along with this and the free parking at the beach it made for a cheap holiday, the road-tax and diesel being the biggest expenses.
After a while the days came and went in a nice steady flow, and the routines of the holidays became second nature to us: sleep, eat, surf, shop, going to the beach to get tanned and hot so you could cool yourself in the ocean with a long swim. In general we were gifted with very warm and sunny days, and if an occasional rain would arrive, it mostly did so after sunset or during the night. We really only had that one night when the weather let go of her furry and tossed the trucks back and forth making sleeping and impossible task.

Suddenly after two weeks of winding down it was time to point the headlights north and head home to the reality of university for my son. I still had some holidays left and decided to visit Norway once more.