I've been having strong desire to go to the beach, see and feel the sea, and we realized that the kids had never visited the seaside before, I also feel that very soon, we might get into a new lockdown with the 5th wave, so we all woke up early on Sunday, and took advantage of a day off, for travelling.
It was a relatively long drive, 3 hours roughly, but I also knew that the payoff would something special.
Do you remember the first few times you saw the see? The feeling in the air, the smell, the sudden sight of a wall of sea, the size of a mountain, and the endlessness, almost a counterpart to the universe itself.
Something that we always find amazing when travelling in France, it's the diversity of subcultures, architectures, dialects, accents depending on which region you are in.
We were heading toward "Les Landes", a very unique landscape, with the largest forest in France. The department was created during the French revolution, and paradoxically the land was particularly badly drained,
and feeding cattle, and we walking on gigantic sticks called "echasses", I don't know where I am going with this story, I guess the land was wet, now it ain't.
That's how shepherds were chilling in Les Landes
We still crossed some wet lands, up until we reached the biggest forest we've ever seen before. completely fell in love with the area, and asked me if should buy a house here instead. 😁
I understand where she comes from, to live the perfect life off the grid, there are few things that you will need, wood is one of the main resource that can help you build and warm yourself up.
I guess if you can find a forest, a river, and good soil, you pretty much sorted for life. At least, we talked a lot about what our dream house would look like, that's what travelling does, it opens your mind.
We bumped into the largest flock of bird ever seen to date.
Largest forests, means largest lumber factories (or at least that was our guess).
I found these "walls of forest" rather unsettling, almost making feel claustrophobic at times, especially the land is flat for miles and miles (speaking to a US audience ahaha), with gigantic pine trees that you can see behind me.
From time to time, you could notice a road, leading to a farmhouse surrounded by trees, these farms look like the perfect hideout when SHTF.
The only con I could think off, is the frequent fires in the area, or storms that can lay down these giants in a few seconds, your house under it.
When there were nowhere else to drive to anymore, that's when you know you've arrived to "Le Cap de L'Homy". This boat is waiting for your at the entrance
Quite frankly, I am ashamed to admit that we haven't been visiting the sea for at least 8 years. I don't know why exactly, I guess when we were in South Africa we rarely travelled, which is a pity. Of course here in France, we have a car, which makes things much easier, and I also have a duty to show my tribe all the different areas of France, I would like them to see Paris very soon, before Christmas maybe, even for a few days.
How the kids felt about it the sea?
Well, it was quite something to witness! The Atlantic ocean has a certain violence to it, the waves can crash with intensity, even the small ones. On a windy day, you can feel the brutality of the ocean, and I could see in my son's eye, a mix of fear and respect.
It's good that he fears the ocean, I must admit that my first thought, I of course did not share it with him, but my first thought was that many people lost their lives in this very majestic, deep blue crystal.
He dipped his feet where the froth meets the sand, and lost balance at the contact of the wave. Swooosh!
We will have to go back on a warmer day, the sea today is angry and beautiful.
While we were there, I had to record a song, so I will probably release it on Friday. I brought my home studio out there, but the wind was strong, and my microphone is way too sensitive, we ended up recording a video using the mic of the phone, a song that will fit the tone: Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers.
The area is a known surfing spot, at the moment the beach isn't under surveillance since end of September, so you won't see any surfers, the currents are so strong anyway, it would be madness to go in there.
We didn't take the dogs, because Charlie gets a little bit anxious during long trip. We have a SUV, but I would like to travel with a van or RV if we take the dogs, as the dogs can get antsy in the boot, Jack the husky sometimes try to jump over the seat, madness breaks out haha.
So, nope, no dog this time around, but next time, now that we know what to expect, I wouldn't mind taking them with us.
We stay a little bit longer to enjoy the sunset, smoke a blunt, before driving back home. The kids were out the entire trip back and told us it was the best day ever, I concur...Best day ever! You can lock me down now, bucket list item number 4 ticked! ✔️