The place was developed in the 10th Century where it was bordered with the Palace de l’Ombrière which was the residence of the dukes of Guyenne. The palace, which was also at the time the Parliament of Bordeaux, was demolished in the 19th century after being destroyed by several fires.

Today, after the redevelopment of the quarter, the place has been converted into being pedestrian friendly bordered by benches and trees. A nice change from the over crowded car park that once filled the centre of the area.

The facelift has also brought new life to the local businesses, allowing them to set up shop directly onto the place itself… offering a great atmosphere for grabbing a bite, knocking back a beer or just enjoying the view.

Where: Tram Stop ‘Place du Palais’ Tram Line A

The post Place du Palais appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

My hometown is Bristol in South West England, which also happens to be one of Bordeaux’s longstanding twin cities. It’s possibly best-known for its Suspension Bridge, and for giving the world Massive Attack and Banksy, but surely its greatest claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of Nik Kershaw.

Mr. Tim Pike

 

Where are you living at the moment?

I live in Saint-Aubin-de-Médoc, a little way out of town. It’s not the most rocking of places but is very pleasant and is a great town to raise a family.

How long have you lived in the region?

This is actually my second stint in Bordeaux as I spent a few years here in the 1990s. I then relocated to Paris and returned to Bordeaux in 2010, eight years ago!

Old postcards, today!

Why did you move to France and why did you choose Bordeaux?

I was at university in Southampton studying French and there was an exchange system with what is now Montesquieu university (formerly Bordeaux III), so I initially arrived as a fresh-faced graduate teaching English to delightful students. It was a fantastic experience and I enjoyed every minute. And then never quite made it back to the UK.

What do you do for a living?

I work in the communications department of the avionics (aircraft electronics) branch of Thales, now based at a modern facility that opened a couple of years ago in Mérignac.

You’re very active with your blog, Invisible Bordeaux. What’s its aim and how long have you been doing it?

I launched Invisible Bordeaux in 2011 with the aim of providing English-language articles about sights and stories that were not necessarily on the tourist circuit but which I thought could be interesting to read about for visitors to the area. So you get bits and bobs of history, architecture, culture, unusual local sights and places. Anything goes really: one item I published compiled the puns used by hairdressing salons for their names in and around Bordeaux! And over due course the Invisible Bordeaux brand has extended to the ubiquitous social media channels, so you’ll find additional content on my Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts (see below), and there is also a French-language website with a selection of articles translated for local readers.

Hairdressing Salons and their puns!

Your articles are extremely well researched. How do you prepare an article and piece together the historical elements even most French people don’t know.

My bookshelf is weighed down with quite a few books about the area, so that helps. Real world encounters have also led to a number of interesting discoveries. For instance, a chance meeting enabled me to piece together the history of the Domaine Catros arboretum in Le Haillan, which is a story that certainly deserved to be told. But I’ve mainly become a very proficient Googler, digging out obscure information that is lurking somewhere down in the depths of the web. That has sometimes resulted in eureka moments when joining the dots, resulting in articles that reveal things that locals had either forgotten about or weren’t aware of, such as the story of the 1970s “winegate” scandal, or the sad connection between France’s football (soccer) coach Didier Deschamps and a 1987 plane crash in Eysines. I do my best to mention my sources so that readers realise I’m not making everything up!

What is a stand out experience from blogging about Bordeaux?

There have been many, but one that will always stay with me was a road trip with a fellow blogger and my younger son to Puynormand, 60 kilometres to the east of Bordeaux, to view something which doesn’t actually exist: the point where the 45th parallel north and the Greenwich meridian intersect. In the pouring rain, we ended up hammering into the ground a homemade sign marking the exact spot where east becomes west mid-way between the Equator and the North Pole. As far as I know, the sign is still there. As you can see, it’s all about making the invisible visible!

45th parallel north and the Greenwich meridian intersect

What is the most unusual or surprising fact you’ve uncovered about Bordeaux?

There are two great taboo subjects in Bordeaux. The first is the extent of the wealth generated by the slave trade, and the city is slowly coming to terms with that. The second is the city’s role in the Second World War, which was an especially dark period and which is still conveniently brushed under the carpet. I feel as if I’ve only just scratched the surface so far by covering stories such as the anti-semitic exhibition held in the grounds of the city hall or the chequered legacy of Bordeaux’s wartime mayor Adrien Marquet. But the city also formed the backdrop to some inspiring wartime chapters such as the Operation Frankton commando raid on the city, Portuguese consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes’s actions which enabled the escape to freedom of several thousand refugees, and the story of the rebel German Heinz Stahlschmidt (later Henri Salmide), who pretty much saved the city from full-on destruction. I’m currently reading a lot about the Maurice Papon trial on charges of crimes against humanity. It’s all very disturbing…

On a much lighter note, it has also been interesting to discover bizarre sights such as the UFO landing pad in Arès and the national social security museum in Lormont. It just goes to show there’s so much more to the area than wine and the golden Atlantic coast beaches!

UFO landing pad in Arès

How have you seen Bordeaux develop over the time you have lived here and where do you see the city in 10 years?

Well, as I was here in the grimy 1990s, I have witnessed massive changes! For instance, I remember the Garonne waterfront as being an inhospitable thoroughfare, so to see the “quais” these days is incredible. Much the same could be said about Place Pey-Berland. Despite feeling a slightly irrational sense of nostalgia for the rootsier Bordeaux of yesteryear, I do love the way it’s been transformed into such a pedestrian-friendly and bike-friendly city. Where do I see the city in 10 years? Well, it’s certainly edging out in all directions, so you just have to hope the infrastructure keeps up. Some of the things you don’t see on postcards, such as the Rocade ringroad at rush hour or the challenge posed by trying to get from one suburb to another by public transport, really need to be sorted out if the metropole is to continue flourishing at its current rate.

You’re a bit of budding musician, can you tell us about your recent or upcoming musical projects?

Singing, playing guitar and playing piano have always been a bit of a constant and my most recent project is the end-product of an Invisible Bordeaux subject: the life and career of the legendary New-Yorker Mort Shuman. Shuman penned a number of classic pop tunes of the 1950s and 1960s as an integral part of the Brill Building scene, then became an easy listening star in France, developed connections with the city and is buried in Caudéran. So The Shuman Show (as it is known) is a words-and-music extravaganza that tells the great man’s story. There have been a number of performances in and around Bordeaux and further dates are coming soon. I’m also working on a new show which I hope to be staging sometime in the not-too-distant future. I won’t give away too much but it should be a bit of a crowd-pleasing trip through some memorable songs and stories!

The Shuman Show

Do you have any other websites?

Ever since my first stay in the city I’ve been a loyal supporter of the local football team, Girondins de Bordeaux, even enduring the regular lows and savouring the occasional highs as a season-ticket holder over the past few years. So I recently launched International Girondins, a low-maintenance English-language guide to the club, its stadium and the whole matchday experience. Hopefully it will help a few away supporters or city-break visitors get the most out of a trip over to Stade Matmut-Atlantique to take in a game!

Any closing comments?

Well, one thing I’d like to say before signing off is a big thank you to you at Bordeaux Expats for always being so positive and supportive, making me feel like Invisible Bordeaux is part of the local online landscape by regularly mentioning the site and sharing links! It makes it all worthwhile. Keep up the great work!

Useful links:

Invisible Bordeaux: http://invisiblebordeaux.blogspot.fr

Invisible Bordeaux on Social media:

• Twitter
• Facebook 
• Instagram 
• YouTube
• French Version Invisible Bordeaux
• Introduction to the Shuman Show
• International Girondins

The post BORDEAUX EXPAT INTERVIEW – TIM PIKE (INVISIBLE BORDEAUX) appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Cité du Vin

The project to construct a dedicated centre of the regions most valuable export was first conceived in 2009, with a final budget exceeding €81 million the museum was officially opened by Alain Juppé and François Hollande on the 31st May 2016.

The ground floor houses a cellar-library of 9,752 bottles, from over 80 countries. Visitors are able to taste and purchase directly as there is wine bar open to the public not too far from the gift shop, which is operated by La Cité du Vin.

Cité du Vin - Latitude20

Cité du Vin - Tickets

Cité du Vin - bassin a flot

On the first floor there is a conference room, discovery workshops, and a 250-seat auditorium which hosts events all-year long.

The second floor which is the the heart museum, takes visitors on an immersive journey through time and concentrates on the discovery of wine as a cultural heritage. Twenty-five sections make up the museum, with the tour lasting around two hours. The visitors have interactive translation guides that assist with the experience for all the interactive multimedia multimedia exhibitions.

On the 7th floor is a panoramic restaurant (Le 7), and on the 8th floor, a belvédère climbs to a total height of 35 meters high, and offers stunning panoramic views of the city and the port de la Lune.

Bordeaux Ferry

The BatCub river shuttle is a very pleasant alternative to discover the port of Bordeaux and also to get from one side of the riverbank to another. The BatCub (Bordeaux Ferry) forms a piece of Bordeaux’s transport network and allows interconnections with the three tram lines and the exchange hubs of Stalingrad, Quinconces and Cité du Vin.

© Derek Rose Videographer

The river shuttle serves 5 stations:

The post La Cité du Vin and Bordeaux Ferry appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Written by: Marie HALLIER / Bordeaux Cognac Tour Guide

The right bank of the Gironde Estuary offers landscapes totally different from those of the Left Bank (Médoc). Once we cross the largest estuary in Europe from the left to right: we leave a low lying land coastal marshes and the world famous vineyards. On the right bank we discover a hilly region protruding with abrupt limestone cliffs, a stark contrast to what we experience on the other side of the river.

To understand the contrast between these two landscapes separated by only a few kilometres, we must understand how the estuary was formed back in a time when the limestone bedrock broke apart and was divided.

This story begins millions of years ago. The estuary is perched atop of a limestone plateau, which was deposited about 150 million years ago! The landmass was strained by the arrival of the Alps and Pyrenees Mountain ranges, before eventually breaking apart. To the west (the left bank, Médoc) collapsed and was swallowed by the ocean. However, the land to the east (the right bank) rose up with large limestone plateaus forming steep cliffs. The waters and tides rode against these cliffs and in turn saw the Gironde estuary being born.

With the end of the ice age, the sea level rose and the rivers slowed resulting in large beds of alluvium (clay & silt) being deposited across the region. The banks became increasingly regular and stable due to the accumulation of sediment in the creeks and river systems. In some places like Mortagne-sur-Gironde, we can still admire today the ‘dead cliffs’. At the feet of these cliffs, there was so much sediment that accumulated and the water ceased in running.

The succession of this phenomena has led to the landscapes of today. Over the centuries men have tried to domesticate. Historically, inhabitants always lived along the banks of the estuary but this is never easy as it is always in a constant state of evolution!

In order to maintain clear navigation for boats on the estuary, authorities are forced to redraw the navigational charts due to the changing depths for passing vessels. They also need to determine where to drag the estuary in order to maintain these navigation channels!

Some 2,000 years ago, marshes formed on both banks of the estuary. However, it is only since the 16th century that the marshes were drained and used for cultivation and farming. Sometimes though, rare occurrences change everything!

For example, near the hamlet of L’Echailler, you can see that the dike protecting the marsh from the onslaught of the estuary was destroyed by a large storm in 1999. It was then decided to let nature take back what is rightfully hers, of which saw the start of the land being returned to the water.

With the blocking and silting up of certain parts of the shore, we saw the necessity of accesses channels being dug in order to maintain port activities.

Other evolutions of the landscape lead us to the appearance of one of the largest reed beds of France in Chenac-Saint-Seurin d’Uzet. Since the 1960s & 1970s, this vast reed bed separates the cliffs of the estuary. It is sometimes nearly 1.5 kilometres wide and serves as a shelter for many species of birds. A real paradise for them but also for their fervent observers!

Meschers-sur-Gironde

Suzac Point WWII bunk-house

Mortagne-sur-Gironde

Talmont-sur-gironde

Other ‘must see’ visits on the Right Bank of the Estuary are these villages and surprising sights:

Suzac Point – Amazing series of blockhouses from the German Occupation in WWII (part of the Atlantic Wall)
Meschers, cliffs and beaches nestled between the rocks that are called here “Conches”

The magnificent village of Talmont-sur-Gironde founded in the twelfth century in the name of the King of England. Stroll the narrow streets, visit it’s Romanesque church and its amazing marine cemetery.

Mortagne-sur-Gironde with its charming harbour, “dead cliffs” and its unique belvédère on the Gironde estuary

The enigmatic “Tour de Beaumont” perched high between St Fort and Mortagne – which served as a landmark for navigating sailors on the waters of the estuary.

About the author:
Marie Hallier is a local tour guide who operates Bordeaux Cognac Tour Guide. She grew up between Bordeaux and the Bassin d’Arcachon but today makes Charente-Maritime her home. She is passionate about the region, wine, Bordeaux & Cognac and has written a book about the estuary of the Gironde. She offers a range of different regional tours, all of which can be viewed here.

The post EXPLORING THE GIRONDE ESTUARY appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

It’s true, Gironde isn’t renowned for it’s snow fall or super frosty Christmas. However don’t let that stop you from trying for a white Christmas.

The Sud Ouest has kindly listed the ice rinks and ski slopes in the department of Gironde.

Toboggan runs

Libourne, Place Decazes.

Daily: 10 am to 1 pm / 3 pm to 7 pm
Monday 24 Dec: 10 am to 1 pm / 3 pm to 5 pm,
Tuesday 25 Dec: 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Soulac, Place Georges Mandel

Daily: 11 am to 12:30 pm / 3 pm to 6 pm
Free

Ice-Skating

Arcachon, Place Thiers

Daily: 10 am to 8 pm (Except 25th Dec & 1st Jan)
Until Sunday, 6th January
5 € per hour, skates included.

Créon, Ancien chai de la rue Geynet

Tuesday to Sunday: 10 am to 8 pm (Except 25th Dec & 1st Jan)

Lège-Cap-Ferret, Place de la mairie de Lège

21st December to 6th January
Tuesday to Sunday 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm (Except 25th Dec & 1st Jan)
€2 to €4 (includes helmet and skates – 30mins)

Langon, Place Kennedy
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 12:30 pm / 2pm to 6pm (Except 25th Dec)
€2 (includes skates – 30mins)

Saint-Loubès, l’école Hector-Ducamp
Daily: 10 am to 12 pm / 5pm to 6:30pm (Closed 25th Dec & 1st Jan)
Free entry with skates on loan – Gloves required

Saint-Sulpice-et-Cameyrac, Salle des sports
Daily: 5pm to 7pm (Closed 25th Dec)
Free entry – Until 31st Dec

The post ICE-SKATING AND SLEDDING IN GIRONDE appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

The Museum of Natural History in Bordeaux was created back in 1791 and boasted more than 1 million specimens which is one of the most impressive collections in France.

At the end of 2008, the Museum closes their doors in order to carry out large scale renovations and extensions. These have become indispensable to not only provide better public facilities but also for better conservation of the collections.

The aim of the Muséum de Bordeaux museum project is to examine the evolution of views on nature and to challenge the visitor by drawing on the heritage represented by the collections. The goal is to propose a new approach in the way the audience views and experiences the collections.

The building has seen significant parts renovated, all the while maintaining key heritage elements. A strong focus point has been the introduction of innovated technologies, which will allow the immersion and interactions of the visitors. The architectural project also incorporates the new standards of conservation of collections while minimising energy consumption.

The construction site of the principal building, in the heart of the Jardin Public, was launched in 2015 following the transfer of the collections in 2011 to the new Collections Conservation Center.

The development components of the Scientific and Cultural Project are based on a common theme: “Humankind’s place in Nature”.

A selection of around 3,500 specimens will be exhibited in the Hotel de Lisleferme. The other specimens will be presented alternately during semi-permanent or temporary exhibitions.

There will also be kid friendly animations, with the creation of a museum for toddlers. This section is dedicated to children under 6 and offers a multimedia show that immerses the visitor in the world of natural sciences.

ADDRESS:
5 place Bardineau
33000 BORDEAUX

The post MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OPENING IN MARCH appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Passersby are hard pressed not to notice this beautiful atypical building which is located on the Quai de Paludate near the Gare Saint Jean.

According to this article by 20 mins, the inauguration of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine offices for Economy and Culture is scheduled for the end of June.

The imposing building will host three cultural agencies linked to the region, Frac (Regional Fund for Contemporary Art), the Oara (Artistic Office for the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine) and Ecla (Writing, Cinema, Book, Audiovisual). The construction itself is a technical and architectural feat, and will most definitely be the stand out emblem of the Euratlantique district.

The structure will be the first thing visitors see when arriving by train from Paris. The building measures 120 m long and 37 m high and is designed by Danish architect, Bjarke Ingels of the BIG agency. He has also been chosen by Google to design their future headquarters in California.

A CULTURAL HUB FOR THE REGION

The Meca will be open to both the public and for professional use.

The initial idea is to bring together these cultural agencies, to make it a cooperative cultural creation. It will be an extraordinary cultural hub with artist residencies. The center will be open to surrounding cities, high schools and other associations.

Not only will this cultural hub provide outlets for creative talents, there will also be one of the most beautiful rooftop terraces in Bordeaux open to the public. And last but not least, a restaurant with a capacity of 56 people will be open five days a week.

The district around the Gare Saint Jean is indeed changing!

The post A CULTURAL MECA IN BORDEAUX appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

The Dune of Pilat is a protected natural site, 2.9 km long, 616 m wide and 110 m high and offers some of the most fantastic views across the bay and forest.

HOW TO GET THERE?

There are 5 ways to get from Bordeaux to the Dune du Pilat: train, bus, taxi, bicycle or car

 

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

 

Une publication partagée par Bordeaux Expats (@bordeauxexpats) le 2 Avril 2019 à 1 :32 PDT

TRAIN / BUS

Travelling from the Gare Saint Jean in Bordeaux, take the TER to the station of Arcachon. It roughly a 50 min local train trip. Then directly from Gare de Arcachon, take the Bus Baïa  Line 1 and get off at the Dune du Pilat. The bus timetables change between seasons, so check them out via the website prior to your trip (25 min one direction)

CAR 

This is probably the most direct and most flexible method if you have the luxury of having a car. On a good day, the 70 km will take only about 45 min. However, if you have the unfortunate pleasure of heading out there on a summer’s day with the rest of the hoards, it’s not unheard of to sit in the traffic jams for a couple of hours.

A63 –> Bayonne or A63 –> Bordeaux
A660 –> Arcachon
N250 –> La Teste de Buch
D259 –> Dune du Pilat

Parking

There are several car parks available to visitors. The main car park is just off the roundabout near the dune. It is holds around 950 cars / buses. It is from this parking that you can access the seasonal staircase that is installed from April to November. Access to the staircase is only around 400 m and is an easy walk.

The price of the car park changes year to year but you can expect that in season you’ll pay €4 and up for a couple of hours (less in winter).

TAXI

This is an untried method by myself and I should imagine it will become expensive but do-able.

Going on things I can find online, the cost could be around €120-€150 one way.

BICYCLE

If you are a keen cyclist, sure you can head out to the bay on your bike. However, this would be an approximately 4 hr bike ride on the national roads! If you are already in Arcachon, there are many coast cycling paths that lead around the bay (including the Dune du Pilat). You can count around 10 km from downtown Arcachon to the Dune to Pilat.

For more information check out this website.

The post HOW TO GET TO THE DUNE DU PILAT FROM BORDEAUX? appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

Bordeaux has been James’s home for the past 7 years, but his connection to region goes back much further. He was born, raised and studied in England, but spent every summer and school holidays in France as his father lived in the Médoc most of his life.  So, he’s been flying to and from Bordeaux since the days when British Airways only had 1 flight per week on a Saturday, compared to up to 15 per day from the UK in peak season now.

He says that he was lucky to grow up exposed to both cultures, and try to take the best of both worlds.

“I understand ‘la belle vie’ and don’t just love but respect food, merci La France. But you can’t shake off the politeness, efficiency and GSOH that comes from being a Brit”.

After working for a couple of years in France before, and during uni, straight out of an International Business degree James headed back in 2012 to start his “career” and to avoid a soulless graduate scheme in some satellite town of London.

Getting into teaching…

Like many other fresh Expats, he started in Bordeaux with the English teaching gig: working freelance for agencies, being expected to work like an employee without the perks.

“I thought I was balling to begin with: “Ohhhh €15-20 per hour, that’s much more than minimum wage !!! Get in!” I would convince myself: not factoring in travel time, lesson planning, no holiday pay and extremely limited social security”.

The precarity and pittance soon pushed him to up his game. He managed to sneak a foot in the door of a business school and has since developed his activity to lecturing in 4 different schools with over 450 students per year.

These days it’s less and less English teaching, with many classes of his classes focusing on Web Marketing, Digital Strategy and Change Management with regular but impromptu “lessons” on what perplexes many students here: respect, work-ethic and speaking because you have something to say, not because you have to say something.

“I genuinely do love teaching though and never expected to become a teacher. It allows you to meet people from all walks of life and to really understand how people live here in Bordeaux. When starting off working with “particuliers” I worked with ages ranging from 7 to 77!

Higher education works differently in France to the Anglo-saxon system however. In a nutshell, on the one hand you can go to public uni which is basically free but you may struggle to get a seat in the amphitheatre, your teacher will rarely know your name and you can expect months off at a time due to strikes. This might explain the 50% dropout rate after 1st year?

On the other hand, you’ve got private business schools where either you work on apprenticeship (“Alternance”) and your company pays for your studies (and gets you as cheap labour), or your rents stump up the hefty tuition fees without government loans etc like in the UK (there’s also the grand-ecole system but we’ll save that for another day…)”.

Nowadays, he only work with young “adults” between 18-25 in private business schools. The interactions are priceless and he can easily see how to manage/enjoy the more difficult egos.

“You’ve got the archetypal blasé bourgeois kid repeating his 2nd year for the third time, always late except for at the end of lesson when his coat is on and bag is packed with 10 minutes left. Just like the ones who drop Verlan and Arabic in convo saying “ouech” like their “frères” in the banlieue, but themselves have two good catholic first names, the first one is Jean, the second either Pierre, Paul, François or Baptiste. I’m guessing they don’t speak like that during Sunday lunch with the family at the weekend house in the Bassin however”.

But for every one of these clichés, he has come across even more top-notch hard-working and ambitious students, some of whom have become his close friends and really makes his job worthwhile.

From the classroom to the coast…

For all the peaks and troughs of the classroom, the teaching gig only represents 8 months of the year. Thanks to the ridiculously long summer holidays, from April to September you can find James up on the Médoc coast where for 3 years, he and his best mate from uni, have been running an active glamping holiday operator, “Sanctuary Surf”.

They’re located just next to Plage Le Pin Sec near Hourtin, a wild beach with only basic amenities meaning you avoid the hoards in Lacanau and the Bassin.

The concept is to offer the hotel experience under canvas, showcasing the best France has to offer in terms of food, drink (wine) & nature, whilst providing access to surfing on Europe’s longest beaches & standup paddle boarding on the country’s largest freshwater lake.

If good vibes, having fun in the sun, being outdoors and enjoying fine cuisine appeal. Escape the city for the weekend and join them out in their little corner of paradise.

The post FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE COAST – JAMES MARTIN appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.

They love living in the city but since their arrival they’ve always looked to get out and explore the region. But after they had driven through the Médoc’s “Route des Châteaux” and ended up on the empty dunes looking over the Atlantic coast, they knew it had to be shared and that this is where they would eventually set up shop.

Back in 2008, they became close friends thanks to their involvement with their Uni’s ski society, organising the annual student ski trip to the Alps. After graduation, not convinced by the choice of Grad’ schemes on offer, they both jumped ship to South West France in 2012 following years-abroad in Paris and Nice respectively.

With the Atlantic ocean on their doorstep it was inevitable that they should try to transpose their ski/boarding skills into surfing, but they never expected to get hooked on the sport so easily, let alone build a surf camp!

Check out this great Surf Guide to waves in France!

For the first few years living in Bordeaux they would take any free time off from the freelance teaching gigs to head back to the waves.

Within 1h15 there are so many spots within reach of the city. Although this sounded like a lot to Brits, driving in the French countryside is a genuine pleasure and time on the road flies by.

Learn more about where the are location: www.sanctuary.surf/where

A little throwback to their early surf days. 7 years ago when they arrived in Bordeaux.

It was exactly on one of these trips back from a mid-week session when full of post-surf buzz they asked themselves “Why can’t we do this everyday?”.

“Let’s start a surf camp!”

“It’s been done” Came the reply.

“Yeah but not with the home comforts we’re used to…..”

“It’s always nice to go home after a surf to chill, but instead of going home, why not take all the best aspects of home and bring them to the surf?”.

The rest as they say, is history… From there onwards they made the most of every drive to their surf sessions to develop the concept.

Over the next four years and after much discussion and fine tuning they arrive where they are today: making their idea a reality, being in the position to actually offer what they have been planning for so long, and most importantly, living what we love doing…

They built Sanctuary Surf to share “The best France has to offer” for those travelling from abroad (outside France). But they are still surprised today how undiscovered this area of the region is to people from Bordeaux, whether native or Expat.

That’s why James & Olly want to welcome new guests and we have put together some special offers for the Bordeaux Expat Community

2 NIGHTS FULL-BOARD ONLY €139 pp

We have put the first weekend of June aside exclusively for Bordeaux Expats so get booking!

They can’t wait to see you at Sanctuary Surf this summer!

The post SANCTUARY SURF – GLAMPING IN THE MÉDOC appeared first on Bordeaux Expats.