Bike ride up the coast of Les Landes

A second day of no surf. This isn't a bad thing given how sore and waterlogged we are. So we biked up the coast through the pine and fern forests of Les Landes. Stretching from Capbreton up to Bordeaux, Les Landes is a distinct geographic area with its own culture, within the broader region of Aquitaine. We had a blast:

The weather was perfect. We had a separated bike path the whole way. So civilized. We could ride side by side and have great conversation thanks to the wide bike path and very limited traffic:

Ferns and pine forest all around us:

No, these aren't Tom's Shoes. These are called "espadrilles" and they are hand made in Les Landes. It is a cultural export of the area. Apparently the dude from Tom's got his idea here. From the left we have Jesse, Angela, and Cam each sporting new espadrilles. They cost 10 euros:

We biked up to the sleepy beach resort town of Vieux Boucau. We found a quiet spot by the lake, pulled out our wine, cheese, baguette, and fruit and had a great picnic:

On our way home, we took another bike path. This one is dirt covered with a soft blanket of pine needles weaving through the forest. Not bad:

When we got home, we cooked a big meal for Jon's birthday using the fresh ingredients from the Biarritz market:

We'll leave it up to you to guess whether we went to the local discotheque after dinner for some partying. Yes, it really is called L'Escargot, and yes, it really does look like a bomb shelter: