The familiar elements were all there…
The surf shops were selling t-shirts, swimsuits, and surfboards with names that I knew — Rip Curl, Billabong, Cocoa Beach — and the stack of blow-up flotation rings waited for the wee folks to waft about on the waves.
Beach clothing and boards on sale at surf shop
Cocoa Beach shop
Stack of 'floaties' waiting for the children
The red flag was flying on the beach to warn of the unstable swimming conditions and young families were riding their bikes in formation.
Red flag at beach warning of swimming conditions
Family on bikes in Atlantic seaside town
But wait a minute — where were we??? Did that pink neon sign say La Croquandise??? And what does gaufres mean??? I found out later that it meant waffles! And being very European, we could have put some glacé (ice cream) on those waffles. Yum!
Food stall in Mimizan
We weren’t in a seaside town on the Atlantic Ocean in Florida no matter how familiar it all seemed. We were in a seaside town on the Atlantic Ocean in France — in Mimizan to be specific. The colour palette was more gray than blue since it was coldish and overcast on and off for our two days — definitely jeans and a fleece jacket time instead of shorts.
The architecture was even similar to Florida’s beachside communities — high-rise apartments hugging the intercoastal canals and generic concrete-rendered houses with red tile roofs. We found a basic and rather old-fashioned hotel a mere one block from the roaring ocean which we could hear through our sliding glass balcony doors.
Intercoastal apartments in Mimizan
Houses on canal in Mimizan, France
Le Plaisance Hotel in Mimizan, France
And speaking of the roaring ocean, our walks down there were rather brief because it was quite cold and windy!
The French coast of the Atlantic Ocean in Mimizan, France
Come back soon for more adventures as we wander and work our way around Europe!
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