BIG AND STORMY
After clearing customs and passport control, we hit the wrong side of the road in North West France, bound for the coast at 8.30 French time, an hour ahead of the UK and still in the dark. By midday we were closing in on Traversa’s whereabouts with the message that he would start the day with a short cross-onshore jump session at a beach near Penteven for his French TV crew who were after some stormy action. En-route Jamie received a message that he had been savaged for using data roaming on the ferry, so we had to divert to a McDonald’s for a quick pit stop to sort out the discrepancy and grab some breakfast. While in McDonalds I reminded Jamie why the French eat snails…because they don’t like fast food of course! Well I thought it was funny! We finally arrived on location just in time to watch Traversa launch into a huge back loop off a mast and a half high wave but within 5 minutes the black sky in the background had arrived in the shape of driving rain and killed the wind. The session was over, but hopefully the best was yet to come. In the car park Traversa was his normal relaxed self, chatting and laughing in French with a bunch of Brittany crew including local shaper Robin Goffinet, RRD rider Philippe Mesmeur, Fred Debuire and Fred Jezequel. Over the years these guys have shared many a session with Traversa up in Brittany and from what I could gather the trips usually include a meal out and of course a few beers in the local French pubs. Sounds like my kind of trip! We convoyed through nearby Audierne and then on to one of France’s best reef breaks, Ile Aux Vaches, which should be working in the predicted northwest winds.
