Inga hat das Christi Himmelfahrt-Wochenende in Leucate (Frankreich) verbracht und uns einen kleinen Einblick in ihr Tagebuch gewährt.

Small getaway to Leucate, France

Taking the Corpus Christi holiday as a bridge, I was able to spend a couple of days in Leucate, France with my boyfriend Sander. From where I live it basically doesn’t matter distance wise if you go up to the Baltic Sea or to the Mediterranean Sea. But the South was supposed to be warm and sunny so it was an easy choice even though the wind forecast for the North seemed to be better.

First we crossed Lake Constance with a car ferry which is always nice, especially when it’s sunny. Then on the highway and all the way down south. We drove all night (or rather my boyfriend drove and I slept ) and arrived in Leucate at 5 am in the morning. We slept a couple of hours and then drove to Argeles and hoped for some thermal winds. However, there was almost no wind so I did what I haven’t done for a long time: read a book! After traveling so much lately and being really busy with my PhD thesis, it was just perfect to lie on the beach, enjoy the sun, watch my boyfriend kite with his 15 sqm, and read three quarters of my book.

Of course this state of relaxing did not persist the whole day, so in the afternoon I took over the 15 sqm and kited until the wind totally died and I was walking upwind more than I kited.

The next day there was no wind so we took our car and checked out some kitespots such as Le Franqui, Teleski and a secret spot that I won’t tell . Later that day the wind picked up so we could ride Le Franqui. There is an oceanside but the wind was too low to have fun in the waves and a lagoon. The flatwater is really nice but the water was really shallow with only about 20-30 cm of water. Only at the influent stream of the ocean was a little deeper but unfortunately there was no space downwind. But as after the last competition I wanted to practice actually landing my tricks more reliable I didn’t practice my new tricks but focused on the kite low, edge hard, land reliably-part and landed every trick I made which was super cool.

The next day we had Tramontana winds which means strong, strong, gusty, strong wind. I was riding my 7 sqm but would have felt much more comfortable with a 5 sqm. However, the spot near the teleski lift was super nice with absolute flat water. It is a so called Etong, which is like a small lake, and was the water was deep enough everywhere. The sun was shining all day and I had a good day although I was a little frustrated that I could hardly ride unhooked L Well, time to practice some hooked-in tricks…

In the afternoon, the wind died within a couple of minutes. I tried with a bigger kite but could not manage to stay upwind. Some guys were riding hydrofoil boards which was fun to watch.

The next day we got up early as the wind was supposed to die later that day. It wasn’t as much wind as yesterday so I could take my 9 sqm. However, the wind today was super gusty and I had troubles riding it. Around noon, the wind again died from one minute to the other which is not so much fun if you are riding in offshore conditions. In the evening the wind came back enough to ride the 15 sqm and practice a little bit my unhooked riding.

Sunday was our last day but we had no wind. So we had a super nice breakfast and then we hit the road for a nine hour drive back how to Germany. Bye, bye, hope to see you soon, Leucate!