Last Sea Bath of the Year – French Story & Translation

Author: Suzanne

Share the experience of a young Australian French immersion student as she signs up for the last bath of the year in the middle of the Brittany winter !

GĂ©nĂ©ralement la pĂ©riode dĂ©cembre-janvier est calme en ce qui concerne les stages d’immersion en Bretagne : il ne fait pas toujours trĂšs beau, et certaines structures culturelles et touristiques sont fermĂ©es. Mais pour une fois, j’ai reçu une Ă©tudiante pendant les fĂȘtes de fin d’annĂ©e
 ou plus prĂ©cisĂ©ment, au moment du Nouvel An.

Use the floating blue icon in the bottom right to hide/reveal the English translations below or just click here.

Generally the period December-January is calm as far as immersion courses in Brittany are concerned: the weather is not always very nice, and some cultural and tourist structures are closed. But for once, I received a student during the end-of-year holiday… or more precisely, at the New Year.

An Australian Student in Brittany in Winter

Briana est australienne et elle va passer des examens de français l’annĂ©e prochaine, sa derniĂšre annĂ©e Ă  l’école secondaire. Comme prĂ©paration, sa mĂšre a organisĂ© deux semaines d’immersion en France avec des professeurs de French Today pour Briana et ses parents.

Briana is Australian and she is going to take French exams next year, her final year in high school. As preparation, her mother organized tow weeks of immersion in France with French Today’s teachers for Briana and her parents.

Avant de venir, Briana a commencĂ© Ă  m’écrire des mails. Elle Ă©tait curieuse de savoir ce qui se passe en Bretagne au Nouvel An. Chez elle, en Australie pour NoĂ«l, on mange des grillades Ă  cĂŽtĂ© de la piscine ou sur la plage. Fin dĂ©cembre, il fait 30 degrĂ©s (celsius) le soir. Elle m’a demandĂ© si les gens se baignaient dans la mer en Bretagne pendant les fĂȘtes de fin d’annĂ©e.

Before coming, Briana started writing emails to me. She was curious to know what happens in Brittany at New Year. At her place for Christmas in Australia,  they have a barbecue next to the pool or on the beach. At the end of December, it is 30°C in the evening. She asked me if people swim in the sea in Brittany during the end of the year holidays.

bathing sea brittany

The Last Bath of the Year in Brittany

Quoi ? Dans l’hĂ©misphĂšre nord en hiver ? C’est une blague ! Eh bien non, incroyable mais vrai, il y a des gens qui prennent un plaisir fou Ă  se baigner dans une mer presque glaciale. Je savais qu’à Dinard, pas trĂšs loin de chez nous, il y a une tradition du ‘dernier bain de l’annĂ©e’, une tradition qui dure depuis presque 50 ans. J’ai envoyĂ© Ă  Briana quelques liens web et des vidĂ©os sur YouTube et Facebook, pour lui donner une meilleure idĂ©e de l’évĂ©nement. Elle Ă©tait intriguĂ©e.

What? In the northern hemisphere in the winter? That’s a joke! Well no, unbelievable but true, there are people who take an insane pleasure in bathing in an almost icy sea. I knew that in Dinard, not far from us, there is a tradition of the ‘last swim of the year’, a tradition that has been going on for almost 50 years. I sent Briana some web links and videos on YouTube and Facebook, to give her a better idea of the event. She was intrigued.

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To Bathe Or Not To Bathe…

La famille est arrivĂ©e en Bretagne, et Briana n’était plus sĂ»re si elle voulait participer ou non. Il faisait froid ! 
 Le faire, ou pas ? Elle hĂ©sitait. Mais son pĂšre l’a soutenue. « Si tu veux le faire, Briana, je le ferai avec toi Â», il lui a dit. Sa dĂ©cision Ă©tait immĂ©diate. Le reste est de l’histoire, et je laisse la parole Ă  Briana maintenant pour raconter leur expĂ©rience.

The family arrived in Brittany, and Briana was no longer sure if she wanted to participate or not. It was cold! Should she do it, or not? She was hesitating. But her father supported her. “If you want to do it, Briana, I’ll do it with you,” he told her. Her decision was immediate. The rest is history, and I’ll hand it over to Briana now to tell their story.

Briana’s Experience of “Last Bath of the Year” in Brittany

Nous sommes partis pour Dinard.  Il faisait gris et il pleuvait un peu pendant que nous Ă©tions dans la voiture. Une fois Ă  Dinard, nous avons trouvĂ© un parking assez prĂšs de la plage. Heureusement, il ne pleuvait plus.

We left for Dinard. It was gray and it was raining a bit while we were in the car. Once in Dinard, we found a car park quite close to the beach. Fortunately, it was no longer raining.

Il y avait beaucoup de gens dans les rues qui allaient vers la plage. Puis il y avait beaucoup, beaucoup de gens devant la piscine municipale Ă  cĂŽtĂ© de plage. Ils attendaient. Soudain, quelqu’un a commencĂ© Ă  parler Ă  l’aide d’un haut-parleur. « Les vestiaires de la piscine vont ouvrir dans deux minutes. PrĂ©parez-vous, puis descendez sur la plage pour chercher votre bracelet (rose fluo).» Le monsieur a dĂ» rĂ©pĂ©ter l’information plusieurs fois parce que les gens ne l’écoutaient pas trĂšs attentivement.

There were many people in the streets, going to the beach. Then there were many, many people in front of the municipal swimming pool next to the beach. They were waiting. Suddenly, someone started talking over a loud-speaker. “The changing rooms at the pool will open in two minutes. Get ready, then go down to the beach to get your (neon pink) bracelet.” The man had to repeat the information several times because people were not listening very carefully.

Mon pĂšre et moi, nous avions dĂ©jĂ  mis nos maillots de bain sous nos vĂȘtements, alors il ne nous a pas Ă©tĂ© nĂ©cessaire d’aller aux vestiaires.   Il y avait beaucoup de gens qui Ă©taient dĂ©guisĂ©s en personnages de bandes dessinĂ©es : des Schtroumpfs, des vikings, des gaulois comme AstĂ©rix et ObĂ©lix, et d’autres personnages encore.

My father and I had already put our swimsuits on under our clothes, so we did not have to go to the changing rooms. There were many people who were dressed up as comic-book characters: Smurfs, Vikings, Gauls like Asterix and Obelix, and other characters too.

L’échauffement a commencĂ© Ă  quatorze heures trente. Nous avons fait du jogging, et nous avons suivi un quad avec une remorque autour de la plage. Il y avait de la musique anglaise et française. Je connaissais certaines chansons. Tout le monde riait et chantait… c’Ă©tait une vraie fĂȘte !

The warm-up started at half past two (14h30). We jogged, and we followed a quad bike with a trailer around the beach. There was English and French music. I knew some of the songs. Everybody was laughing and singing… it was quite a party!

Les spectateurs ont pris beaucoup de photos. Ils ont fait des vidéos avec leur téléphone portable. Il y avait deux drones dans le ciel au-dessus de nous qui filmaient.

The spectators took a lot of pictures. They took videos with their cell phones. There were two drones in the sky above us filming.

bathing sea brittany

Puis les organisateurs ont demandĂ© aux baigneurs de faire une grande ligne sur la plage face Ă  la mer. A quinze heures, ils ont criĂ© « Cinq, quatre, trois, deux, un
 c’est parti ! Â» et nous avons couru vers la mer.

Then the organizers asked the bathers to make a big line on the beach facing the sea. At three o’clock (15h), they shouted “Five, four, three, two, one … off you go!” And we ran towards the sea.

L’eau Ă©tait trĂšs froide. (ndlr: 9°C) Il y avait beaucoup de personnes dans la mer, partout. Leurs expressions Ă©taient trĂšs amusantes ! Je suis sĂ»re que la mienne aussi l’Ă©tait !

The water was very cold. (Editor’s note:  9°C) There were many people in the sea, everywhere. The expressions on their faces were very amusing! I’m sure mine was too!

last bath brittany

AprĂšs quelques minutes, nous sommes sortis de l’eau, et nous avons fait la queue pour recevoir un T-shirt gratuit. Pendant ce temps, Suzanne et ma mĂšre nous cherchaient dĂ©sespĂ©rĂ©ment pour nous donner des serviettes de bain. Elles pensaient que nous aurions trĂšs froid. En fait, il ne faisait pas vraiment froid, mais nous avions froid aprĂšs une longue attente dans la queue pour les T-shirt.

After a few minutes, we came out of the water, and we lined up to receive a free T-shirt. Meanwhile, Suzanne and my mother were desperately looking for us to give us bath towels. They thought we would be very cold. In fact, it wasn’t really cold, but we were cold after the long wait in the T-shirt’s queue.

Finalement, nous avons reçu les T-shirts et nous avons retrouvĂ© maman et Suzanne. Elles nous ont pris en photo avec nos T-shirts. Nous en Ă©tions trĂšs fiers ! Suzanne avait apportĂ© un thermos de chocolat chaud. Ah super ! J’en ai bu deux gobelets.

Finally, we received the T-shirts and we found mom and Suzanne. They took pictures of us with our T-shirts. We were very proud of them! Suzanne had brought a thermos flask of hot chocolate. Ah, awesome! I drank two cups.

last sea bath of the year dinan brittany

En principe, il Ă©tait possible de prendre des douches chaudes Ă  la piscine, mais en fait il n’y avait pas de douches libres. (Nous avons pris une douche plus tard Ă  la maison.) Quand nous sommes ressortis du bĂątiment, Suzanne m’a dit qu’ils avaient annoncĂ© que nous avons battu le record du nombre de baigneurs : nous Ă©tions deux mille cent dix. Waouh !

In theory, it was possible to take hot showers at the pool, but in fact, there were no showers available. (We took a shower later at home.) When we came back out of the building, Suzanne told me that they had announced that we broke the record for the number of bathers: there were two thousand one hundred and ten of us. Wow!

Puis les organisateurs ont terminĂ© par l’annonce « Merci Ă  tous. A l’annĂ©e prochaine : mĂȘme heure, mĂȘme endroit, mĂȘme punition ! Â»

Then the organizers finished with the announcement “Thank you all. See you next year: same time, same place, same punishment! “

Vous pouvez partager mon aventure avec cette courte vidĂ©o (mon pĂšre et moi sommes mĂȘme dessus) ! C’est une expĂ©rience que je n’oublierai jamais !

You may share my adventure with this short video (my father and I are even in it)! It’s an experience I’ll never forget!

Author: Suzanne

Suzanne

Bonjour ! My name is Suzanne. I am British born, and have dual British and French nationality. I have been teaching French for the past 40 years, internationally. My husband Peter & I moved to Jugon-Les-Lacs, a charming village of Northern Brittany over 20 years ago where I now offer French immersion stays at the teacher's home. I hope you will come visit me one day!

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