Week4: Beach Lurker Escapes the City
It’s been ten days and maybe more since I have recollected my thoughts. I have been living day to day not knowing exactly what the next day holds, the complete opposite to my prior life in Santa Cruz. I have been to Biarritz, back to Paris, and back to Hossegor for the Quiksilver World Championship Surf Contest. Over the last three weeks many crazy things have gone down, and it’s a rare occasion such as this that I share my tales, albeit in brief, as I am on the bus back to Hossegor to pick up my photos and hopefully surf.
Biarritz Lighthouse - Chambre d'Amour, Anglet
I’ll start from where I left off. I arrived in Biarritz not knowing much about anything except where I would be staying for the night. I took the bus to a small town adjacent to Biarritz called Anglet. Anglet has excellent waves, and is less known than the ritzy Biarritz(y). The hostel is a 5 minute walk to the beach, which is like 5 kilometers of beach break, similar to Waddel Creek north of Santa Cruz. I surfed without a wetsuit for the first time since I was in Fiji 10 years ago. The water isn’t very cold, but most French surfers wear spring suits or full suits, and the temperature is dropping so I will join the masses and wear my wetsuit soon and bake for a few weeks until the water is cold enough to warrant a full suit (or steamer as the aussies say). The hostel I stay at is very diverse with people from all over Europe (England, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, etc) as well as your usual slew of Aussie traveling surfers (and Kiwis) and a few South Africans. Most people are cool and friendly and I have met plenty of contacts for places to visit all over Europe which is good because I struggle to work near the ocean with lots of surfing, photographing, and partying with live music at times. The last band that played at the hostel were a Spanish Ska-punk band which attracted many people from all over Biarrtiz and Anglet, a really good time unlike any party I have been to, due to the international diversity and different languages.
Where would you be? Chambre D'Amour, Anglet
Speaking of languages, I have become friends with quite a few French people that hardly speak any English, so we struggle to communicate in depth, but my French is improving rapidly and I can now hold a conversation, although the French language is tres difficle pour moi, but most people I meet tell me my French is not bad and they appreciate the fact that I speak in French, as most travelers (even some people who have lived here for two years) still do not speak any French except Oui and Non. Actually, my English is getting worse, as I now speak in broken English as it is easier to communicate with French people when you get rid of the confusing English words.
I returned to Paris and stayed with Christine in her apartment for a week and finished a lot of work, making money, so I could return to the beach. I took the night train from Paris to Biarritz, sleeping on two chairs with my surfboard and skateboard clanking around, always getting lots of strange looks walking the streets in Paris with a surf board (“Ou est la Plage?) I joke sometimes. (Where’s the beach?)… I arrived in Biarritz and took the bus (the same one I am currently one) arriving in Hossegor, the Capital of Surfing in Europe. I walked towards the beach with a suitcase in tow, my camera bag, and a suitcase Christine persuaded me was better than my duffel bag. I luckily arrived at the beach, and the contest had just started, the light was perfect, and the waves were even more perfect. I drug my suitcase through the sand for 100 meters, plopped it down 20 meters from the beach, set up my mini tripod on my suitcase, set down my skateboard and box of Concussions, and started “working”, taking (hopefully) some of the best surf photos of my life. The waves were SICK and I traded off shooting the contest and the free surfers, which were among the worlds best surfers. I stayed the next two nights in a hotel for 43 euros a night ($55 dollars), the cheapest place to stay in Hossegor. Each morning I’d awake as soon as I could get out of bed, and go down and shoot the contest. Now I know the rough life Patrick Trefz and Jason Murray have to ‘endure’ when they go on these photo shoots. French girls, drooling pro surfer admirers and hundreds of photographers with bigger lenses than mine line the beach, they sell Fosters out of a tent and I sit there from 8-2 in the sun, without eating anything because food costs money, then I go for a surf.
Hossegor Quiksilver Pro - Danny Wills
I was shooting the sunset at the Hossegor lighthouse and met this cool French guy called Fabian who allowed me to spend the following night in his apartment, which helped to counter paying too much for the hotel. The contest continued all week, and I watched/photographed/videoed most of it. Kelly Slater lost to Damian Hobgood in the quarter finals by the largest margin of defeat in the whole contest, failing to get any of the really good waves. The French absolutely adore Kelly Slater, way more than in the US. When he comes out to his heat he is swarmed by 10 year old girls who he writes I LOVE KELLY all over their faces. Very amusing indeed. Some of the days the waves were 15-20 feet. They were doing tow ins behind the contest and before it started. The competition had wave runners to drag the surfers out through the waves… it was that big. And whoever says that they wouldn’t come to France for a surf trip, think again. The waves are way better than you would ever imagine and they are advanced, fast, and very, very hollow. I probably witnessed 200 in and out tube rides in one week, maybe more. I will post the photos soon, as a photo is worth a thousand words. So anyone who was thinking about coming out to see me, and NOT bringing their board, think again. You’d be blowing it! So the competition ended (Andy Irons won for the 3rd year in a row and if he had lost Kelly Slater would be the World Champion for the 7th time). Check out the see Concussion Website for video footage and photographs from the contest.
I returned to Anglet for the cheap hostel and am attempting to get some work done before I go to Bilbao (further into Basque across the Spanish border), and then to Barcelona to meet up with my friends Daniel and Juergen whom I met through Lee at Derby Skatepark in Santa Cruz. They are putting on an artshow of the history of Skateboard art in Barcelona, with American artists Andy Howell (see concussion.org) and Jeremy Fish (see any issue of Concussion). So I think that will be a great time and then I plan to return to Paris and figure out my next move from there. I’m also searching for my friend Bailey (excellent pool skater/Consolidated rider) who often returns to Basque and last I heard he was in Bilbao where they have a sick skate pool. I have hit up a few skateparks here that are quite good, indoor wooden bowls, and other cement oddities in tiny little towns. Before I left for the beach again, I took 4 rolls of street skating in Paris, a little different than the photos I usually have of skating, with lots of cool brick banks and other Parisian oddities one could imagine finding in an old European city. I am now arriving in Hossegor again (to pick up my black and white photos), and the journey continues. Until next time…a bientot. - Jonny Haywire
Nollie Heel Flip - Paris suburb
Biarritz Lighthouse - Chambre d'Amour, Anglet
I’ll start from where I left off. I arrived in Biarritz not knowing much about anything except where I would be staying for the night. I took the bus to a small town adjacent to Biarritz called Anglet. Anglet has excellent waves, and is less known than the ritzy Biarritz(y). The hostel is a 5 minute walk to the beach, which is like 5 kilometers of beach break, similar to Waddel Creek north of Santa Cruz. I surfed without a wetsuit for the first time since I was in Fiji 10 years ago. The water isn’t very cold, but most French surfers wear spring suits or full suits, and the temperature is dropping so I will join the masses and wear my wetsuit soon and bake for a few weeks until the water is cold enough to warrant a full suit (or steamer as the aussies say). The hostel I stay at is very diverse with people from all over Europe (England, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, etc) as well as your usual slew of Aussie traveling surfers (and Kiwis) and a few South Africans. Most people are cool and friendly and I have met plenty of contacts for places to visit all over Europe which is good because I struggle to work near the ocean with lots of surfing, photographing, and partying with live music at times. The last band that played at the hostel were a Spanish Ska-punk band which attracted many people from all over Biarrtiz and Anglet, a really good time unlike any party I have been to, due to the international diversity and different languages.
Where would you be? Chambre D'Amour, Anglet
Speaking of languages, I have become friends with quite a few French people that hardly speak any English, so we struggle to communicate in depth, but my French is improving rapidly and I can now hold a conversation, although the French language is tres difficle pour moi, but most people I meet tell me my French is not bad and they appreciate the fact that I speak in French, as most travelers (even some people who have lived here for two years) still do not speak any French except Oui and Non. Actually, my English is getting worse, as I now speak in broken English as it is easier to communicate with French people when you get rid of the confusing English words.
I returned to Paris and stayed with Christine in her apartment for a week and finished a lot of work, making money, so I could return to the beach. I took the night train from Paris to Biarritz, sleeping on two chairs with my surfboard and skateboard clanking around, always getting lots of strange looks walking the streets in Paris with a surf board (“Ou est la Plage?) I joke sometimes. (Where’s the beach?)… I arrived in Biarritz and took the bus (the same one I am currently one) arriving in Hossegor, the Capital of Surfing in Europe. I walked towards the beach with a suitcase in tow, my camera bag, and a suitcase Christine persuaded me was better than my duffel bag. I luckily arrived at the beach, and the contest had just started, the light was perfect, and the waves were even more perfect. I drug my suitcase through the sand for 100 meters, plopped it down 20 meters from the beach, set up my mini tripod on my suitcase, set down my skateboard and box of Concussions, and started “working”, taking (hopefully) some of the best surf photos of my life. The waves were SICK and I traded off shooting the contest and the free surfers, which were among the worlds best surfers. I stayed the next two nights in a hotel for 43 euros a night ($55 dollars), the cheapest place to stay in Hossegor. Each morning I’d awake as soon as I could get out of bed, and go down and shoot the contest. Now I know the rough life Patrick Trefz and Jason Murray have to ‘endure’ when they go on these photo shoots. French girls, drooling pro surfer admirers and hundreds of photographers with bigger lenses than mine line the beach, they sell Fosters out of a tent and I sit there from 8-2 in the sun, without eating anything because food costs money, then I go for a surf.
Hossegor Quiksilver Pro - Danny Wills
I was shooting the sunset at the Hossegor lighthouse and met this cool French guy called Fabian who allowed me to spend the following night in his apartment, which helped to counter paying too much for the hotel. The contest continued all week, and I watched/photographed/videoed most of it. Kelly Slater lost to Damian Hobgood in the quarter finals by the largest margin of defeat in the whole contest, failing to get any of the really good waves. The French absolutely adore Kelly Slater, way more than in the US. When he comes out to his heat he is swarmed by 10 year old girls who he writes I LOVE KELLY all over their faces. Very amusing indeed. Some of the days the waves were 15-20 feet. They were doing tow ins behind the contest and before it started. The competition had wave runners to drag the surfers out through the waves… it was that big. And whoever says that they wouldn’t come to France for a surf trip, think again. The waves are way better than you would ever imagine and they are advanced, fast, and very, very hollow. I probably witnessed 200 in and out tube rides in one week, maybe more. I will post the photos soon, as a photo is worth a thousand words. So anyone who was thinking about coming out to see me, and NOT bringing their board, think again. You’d be blowing it! So the competition ended (Andy Irons won for the 3rd year in a row and if he had lost Kelly Slater would be the World Champion for the 7th time). Check out the see Concussion Website for video footage and photographs from the contest.
I returned to Anglet for the cheap hostel and am attempting to get some work done before I go to Bilbao (further into Basque across the Spanish border), and then to Barcelona to meet up with my friends Daniel and Juergen whom I met through Lee at Derby Skatepark in Santa Cruz. They are putting on an artshow of the history of Skateboard art in Barcelona, with American artists Andy Howell (see concussion.org) and Jeremy Fish (see any issue of Concussion). So I think that will be a great time and then I plan to return to Paris and figure out my next move from there. I’m also searching for my friend Bailey (excellent pool skater/Consolidated rider) who often returns to Basque and last I heard he was in Bilbao where they have a sick skate pool. I have hit up a few skateparks here that are quite good, indoor wooden bowls, and other cement oddities in tiny little towns. Before I left for the beach again, I took 4 rolls of street skating in Paris, a little different than the photos I usually have of skating, with lots of cool brick banks and other Parisian oddities one could imagine finding in an old European city. I am now arriving in Hossegor again (to pick up my black and white photos), and the journey continues. Until next time…a bientot. - Jonny Haywire
Nollie Heel Flip - Paris suburb
posted by Jonny Haywire at 4:34 p.m.
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