The Atlantic Ocean and the beaches of Hossegor and Seignosse, popular with surfers from all over the world, are only a few dozen kilometers away. However, it is already another landscape that passes. Gradually, the pine forest gives way to cornfields. A long hilly path, bordered by a forest of oaks, leads to a small pond located within a private property, in the village of Saint-Martin-de-Hinx. A sign reads “Landifornia”, a name inspired by the parallel that is often made between the Landes and California.
You have to get a little closer to see a hut, nestled in the vegetation, as if floating on the water. With its pointed roof and irregular wooden slats, it looks like something straight out of a children’s book. Pushing open the front door, a faint smell of soot escapes from the wood-burning stove, a remnant of the cool nights of early spring.
The sun’s rays sweep through the room through the large glass doors with small panes. In the center, two slightly faded beige Togo armchairs face the pond lined with water lilies. In one corner, a small old desk serves as a table for meals when it is too cold outside.
On the ground, an old jug with a bouquet of dried flowers stands next to a large hessian bag containing logs. We hung a barber mirror on the wall, above a record player and a stack of vinyl records. Inside the retro off-white dresser, two mottled mugs and two plates are stacked on the shelves that smell of ground coffee. In the drawers, a flashlight, candles, a box of matches and some cutlery are what you need to stay in this house which offers an experience close to wild camping.
Blue dragonflies, butterflies and tits
A wooden staircase salvaged from a church that was no longer needed – quite steep and without railings – leads to the bedroom on the mezzanine. The double bed, covered with a duvet from the local Pyrenex brand, is very comfortable. It is not essential to unroll the large mosquito net, the frogs taking care of swallowing the culicidae. The shower is outside, as are the dry toilets.
We wash ourselves in the middle of blue dragonflies and butterflies, in the heart of a luxuriant nature. To preserve the fauna and flora, the only products authorized for the toilet are bottles of biological liquids placed on a post. On the terrace, a Nordic bath heated with wood allows you to bask in the hot water while contemplating the waltz of the tits, before letting yourself dry in the sun, on the deckchairs or on the catamaran net stretched at the edge of the pond. , watching for the lapping caused by the carp jumping to the surface.
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