Biarritz

Having packed up and cleaned the house to within an inch of our lives, we were ready for our summer road trip, first stop Biarritz. I chose this destination for one main reason - surf. The beaches along the Atlantic West Coast are renowned for offering Europe's best surfing conditions and as someone who usually has to make do with a measly weekend every year (when it can be too stormy to be safe to surf, as in Hossegor frustratingly two summers ago) the idea of three weeks being able to dip in and out when the mood takes me was rather appealing.

Biarritz has many other pleasures too. The west coast vibe here is not dissimilar to California....there is sunshine, endless beaches with hugely dramatic cliff faces, scenery not unlike Cornwall and lots of male and female hotties skateboarding, surfing, paddle boarding and generally being tres sportif. Yesterday, we played a game of tennis, then I headed to Cote des Basques for a couple of hours surfing before joining a beach yoga session run by the Roxy Pro team.

The town is full of great boutiques, bars and tapas bars, the best being Jean in Les Halles, where the chiprions a la plancha are mouthwateringly good. And the dogs are loving their nightly walks along the cliff paths above the beach, before we stop off for a mojito at La Plancha at Ilbarritz, where the sunset is one of the best I have ever seen. One of the great surprises of this area is that you can head to the beach at 6pm and still be surfing, swimming or relaxing in full sunshine at 9pm.

Given that daughter No 1 doesn't arrive here until next week, the younger teen hasn't done too badly hanging out with the 'rents all week (God I hope she doesn't read this, she detests me using any form of abbreviation whatsoever fyi.) There have been minimal kick offs and only a little bit of eye rolling at our behaviour (this includes breathing and trying to make conversation of any sort.) Her mood, like the weather, is now set to be calm and sunny all week as her friend has just arrived from Nice, happy days.

Three surf sessions in and my technique is improving, my ear is still intact, and apart from one grazed toe, there are no injuries, although merely writing this is bound to jinx me.