Photo: Ripitup.fr
French beach breaks in the fall are about the best thing a surfer could ask for. The sandbars can be temperamental, sure. Show up to check the waves and everything’s lined up perfectly, winds throwing themselves offshore, only to look like a different world altogether by lunchtime. But like any other beach break worth its salt there are days when that magic wants to hang around. The wind doesn’t turn. The tide doesn’t swing too far in any one direction. Days like this are like an Oprah Winfrey special for surfers: everybody gets a barrel.
The French contingent of tube hounds welcomed in one of those days earlier this week with the kind of barrels we expect from Europe in the fall. Olympic Gold Medalist Kauli Vaast joined the crowd but this wasn’t a day reserved for just the heavy hitters. The usual suspects like Jeremy Flores and Marc Lacomare were in attendance along with a laundry list of French locals who had to be foaming at the mouth when they pulled up to the beach and saw what was waiting for them.
