Beach break in Biarritz.
One of the things that felt quite odd about the Biarritz and Anglet
were how "American" they seemed. Save for the fact that the residents
spoke a different language than I am used to, I could have been walking
around in any beach town in Southern California. Every French teenager
I saw was a walking advertisement for Volcom, Billabong, and
Quicksilver and pretty much indiscernable from an average teenager in
Los Angeles. The surf shops there all carried the same name brands and
sold the same goods, albeit at a 100% markup from what you'd expect to
find in the states. To be honest, I felt more at "home" in France than
I have in any other foreign country I've been to. In terms of people
and culture, I think French and American people are very similar, and I
find it both ironic and slightly amusing that they seem to so
passionately hate each other.
