With the IVF stuff on hold, we suddenly had a few days of freedom before Iain was due to return to work. Lee had mentioned that they'd been away at the coast a few weeks ago with family, staying in a really cool campsite that also had great cabins. We looked into it and the place seemed quite cool so, with a first class recommendation from Lee, we decided to book up the last available accommodation that they had. It wasn't cheap but we figured that it was our last throw of the travelling dice for a while so we should make the most of it.
We filled the car - and I mean filled it! We had William's new bike, all the beach stuff, food and booze plus the regular holidays bags. It felt a lot for just four nights but we weren't quite sure what we were going to and I wanted to be prepared. The camp is in Seignosse and it took us about 1h 20mins to get there. William fell asleep on the way there. He's definitely enjoying these afternoon naps again! We went to check in and our first impressions were good. Think Kellermen's but with a much more surfy-and-eco-friendly-vibe. We got our key and headed to our cabin. It. Was. Amazing. Rustic, yes, (its a log cabin!) but absolutely perfect. Big living space with a couch and tv, fully equipped kitchen, bathroom with washing machine, three bedrooms, and a big deck area with a table and chairs. Modern, clean and very inviting. We were stoked. We got unpacked and headed down to the swimming pool. Again, everything we could've asked for and William was absolutely buzzing. We felt like we were on a proper holiday and spent some time playing around the pool and chatting with other families. We'd brought some food from home so it was back up to the cabin for an easy dinner and a few wines while watching the sun setting through the trees. Being able to put William to bed and sit out on the deck was absolutely perfect. What a great start to the trip.
Saturday morning was a slow-ish holiday-paced start to the day but once we were up and about we decided that a trip to the beach would be best for us all. It was about a 15min walk. William loves playing in the sand and it's such an easy activity to keep him entertained. The best bit was that there was a really cool cafe right on the beach so we stayed for lunch and a couple of relaxing beers. I had a Thai curry and it was delicious. Great to have a wee GF option available! William had some down time back at the cabin but was reluctant to sleep (aargh) so we all went back down to the pool in the afternoon. This was followed up by an easy dinner at the site's restaurant. I ended up having another curry and Iain went for the pizza - he reckons its one of the best pizzas he's ever had! Once we got William into bed, it was time for some more evening drinks on the deck. Perfect.
Before we knew it, we were into Sunday. We were due to check out on Tuesday morning but we asked if we could keep our cabin on for another night as we were enjoying it all so much. We were delighted when they told us that yes, it was available. However, with it being into peak season, there was quite a jump in prices. Eeek! Uch well, we were having a wonderful time.
We decided to head into Hossegor on Sunday morning and try to have brunch at the cafe that all the rugby girls rave about: Waxed. Quite amazingly, we managed to get a parking spot in town (the place was rammed) and hunted down the famous cafe. I was delighted to find GF listed on the menu and went for the sweetcorn and carrot fritters. Life is just so much easier when you can find nice, safe food. We were barely in the door and Jonny Beattie, the Scottish rugby player came wandering in with his family. Iain knows him from the Glasgow rugby days so they were straight into a big yarn about life in France. He's been living in and playing for Bayonne for the past few years and his wife and he love it here. She came over for a blether too and we exchanged numbers. William is a similar age to their kids so it would be a great option for a play date. It's amazing how much the rugby world is actually very small. We let them get on with their lunch and said our goodbyes. The rest of the afternoon was spent moseying around Hossegor. There's great shopping, and its also got an excellent playground so everyone was well amused. Once William started to flag, it was time for us all to get back in the car and head back to the camp site for some rest and relaxation. In the evening, we got on the sangria and Iain decided that the best way to compliment it was to mix it with vodka and rosé. It was never going to end well...
As I write this rather retrospectively, and rely heavily on photos to jog my memory of the trip, I'm struggling to piece together the next few days as there's hardly any photographic evidence that we were actually there! I do know that at some point I drove down to a big supermarket in Capbreton to replenish the booze and stock up on more food now that we'd extended our stay (I've now checked the map and don't quite know why I ended up going all the way to Capbreton - perhaps it was a Sunday and it was actually open?!), I bought matching "Pays Basque" mugs as I was sick of drinking tea out of tiny cups, we spent the rest of our time either relaxing by the pool, or playing at the beach, we had dinner down at the restaurant again, we made our own food at the cabin, and we sat out on the deck have a few glasses of whatever was going while watching the sun going down and listening to good music. Essentially, we were very relaxed, very happy floating around, and it was a brilliant trip. This is definitely somewhere that we'd like to bring friends and family - we've even suggested to the Woodsies that they try and book here for a few days during their trip in July.
LM :-)
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