Its been a fair while since I sat down and wrote a blog on my latest whereabouts and what I’ve been up too – sitting still has definitely not been the case! At the beginning of August I took the opportunity to get some pre-season cross training, in the south-west of France in Soustons. As well as using it as a camp it was also a bit of a holiday with my boyfriend Simon, as we decided to go on a road trip to the southern climes.
I’m normally one for strategic planning, whilst Simon is one for “freestyling” and seeing what happens. Whilst I knew we were camping I had no idea where until we parked up on our first night in a campsite just outside of Rouen. On the journey so far, I had been assured of how amazing the tent we were using was and that it was really easy to assemble. The next part of the fun came when it was time to put up the tent, Simon disappeared stating that he was going to buy some water and I was left to figure the tent out by myself! Rest assured when he returned back I’d managed to figure out which part was the tent, which were the pegs and that was it! I then found out the truth that Simon had no idea how the said tent was constructed just took the man’s word at the shop! After some fun and games we finally got the tent assembled and started our first camp fire BBQ!
The next day then saw us heading further south stopping off in Le Mans for lunch and admiring the beautiful architecture before continuing to our next overnight camping location near Poitiers. The French certainly know how to camp, and the campsite was amazing! First thing in the morning we went for a cycle to the local Boulangerie to blend in with the locals, before heading out kayaking on the lake at the campsite.
After our little paddle on the lake we continued down to our host in Leon, Landes at Villa Souvenir with Olympic rower Peter Sabrowsky. There were many reasons for choosing this location, firstly was the lake in Soustons for my rowing training, then we were 90-minutes from the big climbs in the pyrenees for cycling, as well as having the beach and lake in Leon on our doorstep for watersport activities galore!
So day one of camp began with an early morning run before breakfast. Simon & I found the most amazingly addictive muesli called captain crunch! After breakfast it was straight to the lake for a rowing training on the amazing Lac Soustons – truly beautiful location! Then cycling on the superb roads in the afternoon.
Every day involved a cross training activity of some kind after the daily run, row and cycle. We had a go at surfing, body boarding, canoeing (in the dark which resulted in me being hit by a rather large fish!), badminton, volleyball, tennis and a day in the trees at Adrenaline Parc the equivalent to a UK Go Ape.
Each evening we would also take turns to cook with the other guests or Peter’s amazing French chef Severine would come along and cook for us. It was a great opportunity to try other countries cuisines as it wasn’t just English people staying there. One evening we sat around the table with Dutch, German, Irish and French guests. Being able to speak a little bit of each of the languages I was able to pick out a few key words – and enough to always say please and thank you.
We also took the opportunity to head into the Pyrenees for a day of cycling – it has been one of my dreams to ride in the big mountains in France and today was my day to try and conquer the 2115m high Col du Tourmalet. Since leaving cycling to turn my hand at rowing, it would be fair to say there were a few demons lying within – however the one thing I love about climbing and being in the mountains is the chance to conquer them and find the answers which are so often right in front of you. To reach the top was a massive turning point for me – riding up the roads that the riders you admire and look up to were competing on just weeks before, their names still written on the tarmac – it was a great feeling. We did have chance to enjoy a slice of cake as a treat at the top of the mountain before enjoying the fabulous descent. Absolutely loved it!
The 10-days that we spent in Leon at Peter’s were superb, we couldn’t have asked for a better host. We both achieved everything we wanted out of the camp and hopefully for me it will set me up with a good foundation ready for the rest of the year. We will be back that’s for sure and planning our next trip for October.