When we told people that we were going to France, their responses easily slipped into one of two categories, “I LOVE France,” or “I HATE France.” Opinions were strong and shared unapologetically. I was equally unapologetic… about not caring what people said. I couldn’t wait to experience it for myself. I was determined to see Paris, while Mr. Vacay was determined to surf the southwestern coast. Thankfully, after 20+ years together, we’ve mastered compromise (it really is key to a happy marriage). So, our trip to France was a perfect balance of everything we both wanted, and everything beautiful in-between.

We touched down in Paris – but only for a brief overnight sleep in the Paris airport Hilton before our next day hopper to Biarritz. We grabbed takeaway snacks from Marks & Spencer – an easy stop on our walk from the airport to the hotel. And thankfully, we set alarms, then backup alarms to the alarms, because we were jetlagged and we overslept – but miraculously, we made our connecting flight the next morning.

After landing in Biarritz, we drove to our first stop, Hossegor – a seaside community with well-manicured streets, restaurants, shopping, and loads of roundabouts. Bonus, it’s only about a one-hour drive from the northern border of Spain.

In Hossegor, we rented an Airbnb cottage that had everything we needed – parking for our rental car, a lovely private patio as well as an open backyard, an efficient kitchen, and a washing machine. But the highlight of the stay, was being able to brew a hot cup of tea, take a walk across the street, and ascend the wooden plank boardwalk over the sand dunes that led to the beach. Wind and rain hammered the coast, churned the ocean, and flooded the beach for part of our stay, which meant the cottage was an extra sweet respite for lazy-day book reading and napping. This is how we passed our time in & near Hossegor!

We chilled at the beach – it’s easy to do with beaches that are wide and clean, with sand as soft as sifted-flour!

  • Prevente Beach (Plage du Prévent) – offered fun waves for Mr. Vacay, while Bistro Baya offered a boardwalk view with morning mimosas for me. The sun was out, bikinis were out (bottoms at least), and it was glorious.
  • La Sud Beach (Plage Sud) – offered ample space for endless beach walking for everyone. Regardless of where they paddled out, the swell carried surfers South to the jetty, at which point they got out of the water and made the trek by foot back to where they had started. And when the skies were clear, and it was sunny with a cool breeze, EVERYONE was at the beach.

We shopped!

  • For food & snacks – grab Basque-region takeaway goodies at Etxe Peio. Go to Spar Hosegor for grocery staples, like olives, cheese, wine, crackers, and bread. And for tea and chocolates, stop at Patisserie du Golf.
  • For surf gear – you’ll find big names like Rip Curl and local shops like Chipiron Surfboards. We prefer to support local when we can, but with the sun setting quickly and a rapidly advancing storm, it was nice to have options the day we arrived.

We ate!!!

  • Le Mango Tree – for a mid-morning break of fresh squeezed juice and matcha lattes
  • Lucas – for anytime pastries
  • Tante Jean – for ambiance and a dinner of roast chicken, sea bass, gratin potatoes, and quinoa salad
  • Green Cantine – for a delicious lunch of curry chicken, pistachio bread, and carrot soup with coconut & curry

We explored!

  • Drive (or ride a bike if you’re ambitious!) North of Hossegor – to see the open parkland, forest, and campsites
  • Take a day trip south to Biarritz to…
    Surf, but with a downtown city vibe!
    Visit the aquarium and Cloche du Plateau de l’Atalaye
    Settle in with a hot tea at Manatee or boardwalk snacks at Dodin
    • Enjoy dinner at Le Bar Du Marche – munch on pâté and xistora tapas while enjoying the good vibes and rubbing elbows with the locals

Next stop, Dardenac. Mr. Vacay’s cousin and her family moved into a French-chateaux more than a decade ago, and they’ve made a beautiful home for themselves. We were happy to make the four-hour drive on a two-lane road, from the coast to the countryside, in order to enjoy all of it. Time with family, open land, unhurried relaxation, without sights to check off of the bucket list – this may have been my favorite stop of all.

The Chateaux

  • They’ve poured love and effort into restoring the house that was originally built in the 1800’s and previously owned by eclectic wine-makers. These were my favorite spaces:
    • The Orangerie – the chateaux had a windowed sitting room with a broad view of the gardens. We enjoyed the scenery over breakfasts of homemade yogurt, fresh fruit, and croissants. And we returned to the same spot again, later, for twilight appetizers of duck liver foie gras, Veuve champagne, and Rosé.
    • Guest accommodations fit for royalty – we had our very own private suite, with a kitchen and an expansive, quiet, and luxe bedroom.
  • We were spoiled by glorious homemade meals:

    • Pea soup with scallops, duck parmentier, palate cleansing French-cheese plates, and chocolate mouse with raspberry coulis, all served with French red wine
    • Potatoes roasted in duck fat, guinea fowl, green beans and sausage, a lemon tart, and, of course, more French red wine
  • We caught up on stories of family, work, travel, real estate, food & wine, a lesson in French customs – elbows tucked in, proper usage of utensils, when and when NOT to use the bathroom, the pressures placed on hosts & hostesses to cook incredible food, and the passing of all this information to the next generation.
  • My one regret, that we only brought home ONE bottle of wine from their namesake chateaux, I wish I had brought home an entire case!

The Nearby Sights – St. Emilion

  • We visited wine maker caves and artisanal art & craft exhibits, and we toured the underground Monolithic Church.
  • We lunched on a tomato salad with an accompanying charcuterie board at Amelia Canta. The restaurant owner is a friend of the cousin, and it’s rumored that the tomatoes came straight from her own garden. I also had my first (but not my last!) Café Noisette – an indulgent caffeine boost in the form of an espresso shot with milk. All topped off with a St. Emilion macaron, which seemed more like a delicious almond biscuit, and less like a traditional French macaron.

From Dardenac, we drove to Bordeaux.

We slept at The Hôtel de Sèze. Highlights; the room was recently updated and clean, the central location was great, it was quiet, the bathroom was spacious, and there were ROBES, SLIPPERS, and a bidet! Lowlights; it was tight, efficiently packed with a queen-size bed, a desk, an armoire & two nightstands. There wasn’t open floor space for anything else, seriously, not even moving around. We practically summersaulted across the bed to get our luggage & ourselves in, out, and around the room. But all we needed was a place to rest our heads and refresh between adventures!

  • We found the BEST chocolate store across the street, Cadiot-Badie Chocolatier. We liked it so much, we went back twice, stocking up on gifts to giveaway, and to keep.
  • We drove across the river, to find a local food/art hall. With the windows down, we followed the sound of music and ended up at a rollicking beer hall, La Guinguette Chez Alriq, with food trucks and a super-fun dance band.
  • We spent a late afternoon walking along the Garonne, enjoying the evening-lit sights, and eventually finding our way to dinner at the slender storefront of the yummy Pitaya Thai Street Food.
  • We drove to Château Smith Haut Lafitte winery – gambling on a chance that they would seat us without a restaurant reservation. It paid off, because the grounds alone are GORGEOUS, but also because they had a table for two! We dined for nearly three hours, indulging on a lunch of Cep “royal-style” mushrooms fricassee and butternut squash with pecans, hearty veal stew, scrumptious octopus, all the wines, and a savory cheese course for dessert. We walked off the meal, enjoying the installation of sculpture art and visiting the wild animals roaming the vast property.

On our last day in Bordeaux, we returned the rental car and hopped on a train to PARIS, leaving the coast and countryside behind. While the landscape buzzed by, we reminisced about our first 10 days – the food, the people, the experiences – and we cast our vote, WE LOVED IT! And there was still more to see!