Lacanau

We left the wine country and headed straight for the Atlantic coast. First stop, Lacanau, a French beach town where Koen could finally play on his surfboard!

On a clear morning, we biked to the beach at 7am for a sunrise surf & yoga session. It was a magical morning well worth the early wake-up call. A great start to our hygge adventure down the Atlantic coast!

Koen's brother, Daan, and his girlfriend, Martine, happened to be traveling around the area as well. They pitched their tent at a nearby campsite and we spent the evenings together which were full of yummy food, wine, lots of laughs, and candlelight. Very hygge! 

Two days later, it turned into a family reunion when Koen's parents, Marijke & Hugo, joined us as well. We cozied up together on the campsite and enjoyed family time at the beach.  

Departing from Lacanau, we continued down the Atlantic coast in search of places to sell poffertjes and open the hygge bus shop...

In each town, our first stop was the office of tourism for a list of markets and campsites in the area. Then, if there was an interesting upcoming market, our next stop was the Mairie (Town hall) for permission to sell our 'mini crepes hollandaises'. They would either pass our request along to the Maire (mayor) or send us to the Police Municipale (municipal police office). Each town handled the markets differently, sometimes we were sent on a wild goose chase throughout the entire town to ultimately be denied, but other times we were given a chance. 

Philipe, from the Police Municipale in Gujan-Mestras, gave us a chance and permission to sell at the town's local Wednesday market. Our first French market was in the books! 

Dune de Pyla

We had two days to spare before the big day, so we camped at the Dune de Pyla where we climbed up the highest dune in Europe for an epic sunset and moon-jumped our way down. Fun!

Gujan-Mestras Market

Wednesday arrived, our market debut! We were given a corner spot with a clothes vendor to our right and a produce stand on our left. The market started slow but once we shared samples of our yummy poffertjes and told our story we were busy until the end of the day. 

Biscarrosse Lake

After an exciting day at the market and with a full gas tank, we continued along the coast eager to find our next opportunity. 

We spent a beautiful evening at Biscarrosse Lake with plans to continue the market hunt at the beach the next day. 

Biscarrosse Campground

We weren't given permission to sell at the markets in town, so we decided to offer our treats & towels to our neighbors at the campground. We played Johnny Cash on the radio and Koen cycled around the campground sharing our story and promoting the hygge bus cafe. It worked! We met many wonderful people that evening… surfer girls from the UK, French & Belgian families, some fellow Dutchies, and a friendly German couple with a giant dog.  :) 

Moliets Campground

After a successful market stand at the campsite in Biscarrosse, we tried it again in the next beach town, Moliets. Once again, we met many people from all over Europe and shared our treats & towels. 

Now that we had these experiences under our belts we were ready for more market adventures! More Poffertjes & General Store stories in the next blog!