Surfragette in Hossegor // Quiksilver and Roxy Pro France 2015

Whenever you think about Hossegor in October, the first thing that pops into your mind is the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro. Hossegor is a charming village about 40 km North from Biarritz and with it it represents the Mecca of surfing in Europe. The village, which takes place between the coastal sand dunes and the Landes forest, counts less than 4000 inhabitants. But during high season and the main surfing events, thousands of surfers and beach babes from all over Europe crowd its main street and beaches.

October is one of those periods. Camper vans with licence plates of different countries and colors are parked all around the main beach where the contest takes place. They give hospitality to families with kids, lonely travelers with four-legged companions, groups of soul surfers and party guys. Everyone is there for watching the best 34 male and 17 female surfers in the world competing for the winning place and basically putting on a spectacular show.

Last Sunday the surf conditions were perfect for the contest: consistent swell, long periods between the sets and no wind at all. Andrea and I arrived just in time to watch the men compete - no need to describe their surfing performances!

The crazy thing of it all is that I also had the chance to finally meet for real somebody I talked you a lot about and who is really dear to me. Patricia Fuentes from Costa Bikinis was actually on visit in Europe and, guess what, she came to see the contest!!! Our paths crossed, we were so happy to finally be able to meet each other after months and months of distant virtual friendship! And she's even cooler than behind the screen!!! We couldn't miss a picture together (from left: me, Patricia and her friend Maria) :)

Than, after the contest, I was so pumped up that I decided to take a shortboard borrowed from a friend and have a sunset session with Andrea. Total scored: 0 waves.
God, it was hard!!! But I am stoked to get the challenge! Any suggestion for not drowning myself or, at least, catch a few waves?

Did you so something fun last weekend? I hope you had an amazing time :)
xo

Spring surf

Finally it's time to get the winter wetsuit a rest and take out the one for the spring. Which is not a shorty or a swimsuit (I know many of you surf like that all year long - lucky youuu!!!).

Here in France the water is getting warmer, but we have to wait a little more for summer temperatures. So right now I am happily in my 3.2 mm enjoying the sun and the nice waves that have been given to us lately.

My lovely boyfriend spent two days on the shore taking pictures at me surfing, so I couldn't wait to share a few with you! :)

It's so good to finally smile at the sun and surf without feeling cold. Even though the spots are getting crowded everyday more, I am seeing only amazing sessions ahead and every time I can't wait for the next one.

I hope you're enjoying the warm sessions too :)

Summer is approaching!!!!

Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini, Photography: Andrea Scatolero

The Dune of Pyla - Lost in the desert

During fall Andrea and I took on a weekend getaway in Bordeaux, 2 hours driving north from here. Do you remember the posts (here and here)? Well, what you don't know yet is that before driving back we decided to stop visit the Dune of Pyla (or Pilat), the tallest sand dune in Europe. We had heard it to be a wonderful place, but never been before. So, we took the route and decided it was the right time to go there, since we where just 10 km far.

We didn't expect it as one of the most magical places ever. It's basically a desert falling directly into the ocean from one side, and into the wild forest from the other. Such a stunning view, our jaws dropped open.

Unluckily for us, other people thought a Sunday afternoon could be the right time to visit the dune (not really an original idea eheh!), but the place was huge enough not to make us feel crowded.

From Wikipedia:

"The dune has a volume of about 60,000,000 m³, measuring around 500 m wide from east to west and 2.7 km in length from north to south. Its height is currently 110 meters above sea level. The dune is a famous tourist destination with more than one million visitors per year.The dune is considered a foredune, meaning a dune that runs parallel to a shoreline, behind the high tide line of a beach. The dune has been observed to move landward, slowly pushing the forest back to cover houses, roads and portions of the Atlantic Wall."

We had a magical and romantic time. The sun was setting and lights started playing all over behind the sand dunes. Everyone was speechless (a part from a couple of teen age girls who didn't stop laughing and taking selfies).
Anyway, I highly suggest you to go visit it if you ever pass by - maybe during work days it'd be better, but actually it's so beautiful that it would be worth a visit every time and day of the year. And if you're living not so far from there, you could think of it as a romantic St.Valentine's getaway ;)

Even if I'm sure they don't show at the best its immense beauty, I hope these pictures can give you an idea of it.

I think we'll go there soon again.


Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini, Photography: Marta Tomasini & Andrea Scatolero

Christmas treep

I really really apologize for the title of this post, but somebody (Andrea) thought it was hilarious so, how could I say no? ;)

We left Biarritz on Saturday at 6.30am for a 12 hours drive for Italy! Yaaaay, we're home for Christmas!!!!!

We couldn't wait to be back to our families and friends and celebrate together!! I even had to meet a new baby born in the family!!!!

We're used to the travel, but it always feels like neverending. We left the ocean, crossed the lands of Camargue and Provence, we passed next to Mediterranean sea coastline and at sunset we finally reached the Italian Alps.
We went from 18°C (64°F) of the south of France to 5°C (41°F) of the mountains... brrrrrr

This year everyone is complaining about the lack of snow and that is unluckily true. During our travel we expected to see a lot (or at least some) of white, but instead we met just a few on the top of some mountains. It seems like we won't have a white Christmas, but we are with our families and that's what matter the most. And we have 3 days more to Christmas, so never say never!!! ;)

The landscapes we passed by were stunning, just a few cars on the road and a we've been blessed with such a pleasant sunny day!! So amazing!

Now we're home, tired but smiling and getting our stomachs ready for the upcoming celebrations of the next days.

Holidays have officially started!!!!!


Author // Credits: Marta Tomasini, Photography Marta Tomasini and Andrea Scatolero