Two girls and one very small car

Water

The whole trip was a highlight, I wouldn't know what was the best or worse moment... Just read it all through, you will be amazed!

A trip to Hossegor

Reset, recharge, get a fresh start. Imagine two girls in a very small car headed to Hossegor looking for a long-needed change of environment, a fresh look on things, a new perspective. This is the story of us, Nicki and Priska, and our encounter with one of the hottest surfspots in Europe, the so-called surfing capital of France, the place to be — Hossegor.

Hossegor is not only THE place for surfing, but also for shopping, chilling, eating, and especially for partying (as we painfully learned). Since we now consider ourselves to be real Hossegor locals after five days in this awesome town and area, we want to offer you a short recap of our experience and some traveling advice.

When in Hossegor, you’ll want to check out the following restaurants and bars. For breakfast, check out le Café bleu in the centre of the town, serving the best brunch for your worst hangover. Or treat yourself with a healthy Açai bowl, freshly brewed coffee, and an energizing smoothie at the newly opened L’Açai in les Estagnots, Seignosse. The restaurant Le Surfing not only welcomes you with a very relaxed and laidback atmosphere, but also provides their customers with aperitifs, wraps, burgers, and even sushi. It’s next to the beach at Les Estagnots and serves as a meeting point for all the surfers, who interrupt their surfing or leave their vans to hunt for some good food once in a while. The food is not the only tasty bit of eye candy, if you know what we mean. If you want to party hard, you should definitely check out the bar Coolin à la Plage near Plage Centrale, or just ask the locals for the place to be that night. We’re thinking of surf shop openings with open bars, for example.

Enough for the city trip advisor talk right now. Let’s get to the personal stuff. Take a close look at our private Do’s and Don’ts for your next Hossegor trip.

 

Facts

On your next roadtrip to Hossegor, you want to do the following: Take one or several friends on a roadtrip in the smallest car you can find. Drink 11 coffees each so you can drive through the night safely. Add some Coca Cola to that. Prepare a rad playlist, but only listen to one song for the whole 12 hours’ trip. On the other hand, you might not want to do the following: Park your car to take a nap in a random dark spot in the middle of an industrial zone when you are just two girls traveling.

Some other things we learned during our stay at Hossegor:

Do’s:
• Offer some random guys your half-empty glass of beer so they end up paying for all your drinks — “santé”
• Do have a picnic on the beach — “genius”
• Save a life while struggling with a huge hangover — “call me WonderHangoverWoman”
• Play “what are the odds” with every random acquaintance you make

Don’ts:
• Challenge the bartender to pour as much gin as possible in as large a glass as possible for 5 euros. Just don’t. He will end up winning and you will end up drunk as fuck.
• Ask the same bartender to meet you and your friend at THAT rad bar opening later, when actually you are standing in the very bar that is opening. “Ouioui, sorry Max!”
• Leave the car headlights on when you’re going for a little skate session, unless you fancy some extra exercise, because you will end up pushing it for half a mile when the battery dies.
• Try to trade your friend to a very young surfer for his customised surfboard (even if it’s really pretty and has a cat drawn on it — meow).
• Forget the name of the town you stayed at while being checked at the border.

 

Conclusion

We left Switzerland with a lot of healthy ideas. We planned to do a lot of running, meditating, surfing, and yoga. Because that’s what girls do, right? And Hossegor is just the perfect spot to do this, right? We still have no idea how we ended up with a hangover lasting for three days. That’s why we’re heading home with one big problem…I mean promise: No alcohol until December. We will grow the fuck up.

However, the town as well as the interesting people you meet there, are a true inspiration. No need for hours of meditation to broaden your mind if you meet vagabonds and young entrepreneurs from all over the world who tell you their stories, the way they live, and how they see life. So it’s time to draw a conclusion from our trip to Hossegor, which was supposed to make us see the world from a different angle:

Music suggestion: Can’t Afford it All Jakubi (Kygo Remix)
Picnic recipe: crackers, tartar (le fromage), ham, olives, avocado, cherry tomatoes “bon appetit” → Genius
General note: French people are horrible drivers
Hours of running, stretching and meditation: 0
Genius level: 200%
Number of inspiring people we met: innumberable
Last note to ourselves: Hossegor, we will be back; stay tuned.

Thanks for reading,
Nicki & Priska

Pictures: Nicki Antognini, Priska A. & Dries Meesschaert
Words: Priska A.
Location: Hossegor, France
Thanks to: Julia Tholozan, Nick Pumphrey Max Badets… basically everyone we have met! Thank you so much, we will be back!