The Destination & Culture

We will be settling down amid the quiet pine forest in the sweet little surfside town of Labenne.  Overlooking the Atlantic and a short hop, skip and a jump from the glittered hub of Biarritz as well as the French surf capital of Hossegor, the area has no shortage of waves, walks, and wanderings.  One of the most peaceful spots along the entire southwest coastline and ideally located between the Basque country to the south and the natural beauty of the Landes to the north.  We believe Labenne will be the perfect base for our meticulously curated french surf and spiritual holiday.

Just a short five kilometer bike ride through the forest is the famous surf towns of Hossegor and Capbreton.  With its California vibes and picture perfect beachbreaks, this is one of my personal favorite surf spots for longboarders and shortboarders. Grab a coffee, an ice cream, a crepe, or a croissant and enjoy the chilled out atmosphere of the Landes coast.

To the South, Biarritz has been a favorite beach getaway since the days of Napoleon III in the mid 19th century and it still draws a crowd of sun seeking beach goers.   Half ritzy coastal resort town and half summer surfers’  hang out, Biarritz and its surroundings have a bit of everything for everyone. The area is lined with elegant villas, heritage listed residences, quintessential coffee and surf shops, making it one of the most culturally rich surf destinations in the world. 

The Villa

Our home for the week will be in spacious villa just 200 meters from the large, fine sanded beach of Labenne. We have chosen the stunning, quite beach of Labenne because of it’s incredibly convenient location to the famous surf town of Hossegor 5 km to the north and the cultural chic town of Biarritz 20 minutes to the south. Our villa for the week is quite and surrounded in nature. It includes a large flowered garden, a heated pool, and a covered outdoor yoga shala.  From the villa you can walk the short nature path to the beach and bicycle through the famous Landes pine forest north to sweet surfer towns of Capbreton and Hossegor. With only 6 unique rooms and a limited number of guests, don’t miss this weeklong French experience dedicated to wine, women, waves and yoga. 

The Yoga

Besides spending our days searching out waves, going on romantic walks and sipping on fine wines in the evening, we will still make time to nurture our spirit. Our french getaway will be designed for surfers as far as the daily schedule is concerned, but there will still be daily opportunities to come together to relax, stretch, meditate and dive into the depth of our soul through two Magic and Manifestation Soul Sessions. We will begin each day with meditation before heading out in search for waves. 

In the evening Kori Hahn will be guiding you through various different intuitive yoga practices such as yoga nidra, yin yoga, vinyasa flow, Trust Your Gut Sequence, and Restorative Yoga. Two of the early afternoons, I will be introducing two brand new Soul Session workshops. In these workshops will be designed a picture of what you want your life to look like and how you will create it. Sound magical? I think it will be! The most exciting part of all, all the yoga teachings and workshops will be taught from my recently released book The Intuitive Yogi, which (fingers crossed) you will receive on the first day of the retreat to aid in your magical week. 

By joining this retreat you are supporting a beautiful karma yoga project. From the proceeds of this retreat, we will donate one high-quality modular prosthetic limb kit for a child with a limb disability living in the developing world. Find our more about our karma yoga project by (clicking here).

The Surf

Imagine floating in the Atlantic ocean waiting for your wave looking back to land and seeing the stunning Pyrennese mountains in the distance and a castles jetting out of the water to your left. Sounds amazing, right? It is. We are based in Labenne for its central location between the more consistent surf to the north and the more gentle longboarding surf breaks to the south. The surf plan is to wander, as we always do. And depending on the swell and the winds, we will explore the areas to the north and the south guided by the local ladyslider and surf school operator Julie Chipiron “Madam Chipiron.”

From the barrel happy town of Hossegor to the gentle lady sliding waves of Bidart, the surfing options are absolutely limitless. There are waves everywhere, for all abilities and all board types. Late summer is the most magical time of year to visit the area as this is when the sun-seeking tourists return home yet the warm sunny days linger on.

Side note: Surfing will get the priority of our precious calm mornings and the afternoons are reserved for soulful yoga sessions.

The Food

When in France, one must eat as much as possible. At least that is my motto. We will be joined by renowned plant based chef (and absolute sweetheart) Diana Ferreira for the week. Diana will be curating our daily meals which will include French-style breakfasts, photographic lunch platters, pine forest picnics as well as delectable dinners and desserts.

The Pays Basque area is famous for its wide variety of food and wine from the vineyards of Bordeaux to the chocolate factories of Bayonne, this trip will one very inspiring gastronomical adventure (on top of everything else).

One day of the trip is reserved for tapas and txakolit in the beautiful and incredibly fun town of San Sebastian, Spain. San Sebastian is home to more Michelin Star restaurants than any other European city. When it comes to food, this area is the top of the bucket list.

Adventure & Culture

As far as things to do, how about tasting chocolate in the cultural capital of Bayonne? Explore the many picturesque countryside one-street villages and sample local produce from the farmers market in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Visit San Sebastian, renowned for its culture, superb gastronomy and stunning coastline. Or you could bike through the beautiful pine forest trails north towards Capbreton and Hossegor to explore endless sand dunes and cute surf towns.

One day during the week we will make the journey all the way south just across the Spanish border to the beautiful basque town of San Sebastian. Framed by golden beaches and lush hillsides, has a justly deserved reputation as one of the world’s great dining destinations. Still referred to by her basque name “Donostia,” San Sebastian retains her Basque Spanish We will cruise down to San Sebastian one night for a dinner on the town! When it comes to beautiful and cultural towns, San Sebastian has always been one of my favorites and I couldn’t be more excited to spend a night out eating tapas and drinking the local wine with you on this great adventure. In fact, we might bring our surfboards and have a surf as well!