California's Introduction to Winter

Yesterday's weather forecast was snowing, with a chance of losing circulation in one's toes. The appropriate activity for days such as yesterday is staying in bed with a cup of tea, reading a book and binge-watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix. What should be avoided is going outside, finding the tallest sand dune in Europe, and climbing it, which is naturally how I spent my day yesterday. My toes have not yet forgiven me.

My seafood and veggie lunch.

In efforts to explore areas outside of Bordeaux, some friends and I hopped on a train yesterday morning and traveled 60km southwest to the seaside town of Arcachon. The weather boasted a balmy -2 degrees Celsius upon our arrival. We found a restaurant two blocks from the ocean and I had the plat du jour which was salmon with grilled vegetables. A town located right next to the sea, Arcachon does know how to prepare seafood, and my salmon and veggies were delicious. After lunch, we took a bus 15 minutes through a woody area to la Dune du Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe, measuring in at 500m wide from east to west and 2.7km from north to south. It stands 110m above sea level.

This is what we had come to Arcachon to see. It's pretty famous and over one million people visit the dune each year. However, most of the visiting is done in the summer months, and for good reason. It was freezing. Climbing la Dune du Pilat, I was the coldest I have ever been in my entire life. It was as if France was telling me, "Hello California, let me show you what the word winter really means." Did I forget to mention that when I left Bordeaux yesterday morning it was snowing? That should have been my first clue to go back inside. My second should have been when I was purchasing my train ticket and the man at the counter chuckled when I told him where I wanted to go.

The forest at our backs.

High above the treetops, that's where you'll find me. 

In front of us, the Atlantic Ocean.

We didn't traverse the entire dune, that would have taken weeks at our pace, but we did make it to the top of one of the peaks! The view in front of us of the ocean, and at our backs a dense forest was breathtaking, but so too was the wind and subzero temperature. After taking a couple obligatory pictures, I started to become really concerned about the state of my toes. I, like every one of the Californians I was traveling with, was unprepared for the treacherous conditions. In case there was any doubt, converse high-tops lack insulation, among other things, and are definitely not appropriate footwear when taking on any extreme weather. When we made it back down the dune, I dumped the sand from my sneakers and held my toes in my hands, making sure I could wiggle all 10 of them. Upon seeing movement, we headed to the train station and back to Bordeaux to warm up and apologize to our weary bodies for the day's events. It was an exciting adventure, and one I would repeat when the weather warms up. That seems to be a recurring theme in my life at the moment.

Winter-1     Stacey-0