ARETE
Mistral
KITESURF · MMXXVI
ARETE · LP RETREAT · MMXXVI

Mistral.
Four weeks
on the wind.

JULY 2026 · CÔTE FRANÇAISE

The whole month of July, four spots on the French coast, kitesurf at dawn and reading at dusk. A retreat for the partners of Arete — a practice in mastery, patience, and the long horizon.

Reserve a week →Read the program
ARETE · INVITATION
MISTRAL
JUILLET · MMXXVI
KITESURF
RETREAT
CÔTE FRANÇAISE
IV SEMAINES
IV CÔTES
BY INVITATION
01Hyères · Var
02Port-Saint-Louis
03Le Barcarès
04Leucate · La Franqui
I · LE PROGRAMME

Four weeks. Four coasts.

Each week stands alone. Come for one, come for all four. The kite stays the same; the wind, the light, and the rock change beneath it.
I
WEEK I
29 JUN — 5 JUL
Hyères
Var · L'Almanarre

Long flat-water sessions on the salt lagoons. Olive trees and a quiet town.

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II
WEEK II
6 JUL — 12 JUL
Port-Saint-Louis
Bouches-du-Rhône · Napoléon

Mistral country. Open Camargue beaches, wild horses, the cleanest wind in Europe.

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III
WEEK III
13 JUL — 19 JUL
Le Barcarès
Pyrénées-Orientales · La Coudalère

Long sand spit, shallow water, ideal for hours of progression.

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IV
WEEK IV
20 JUL — 26 JUL
Leucate · La Franqui
Aude · Les Coussoules

The Tramontane howls down the Pyrenees. The masters' week.

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II · LE RYTHME

A day, repeated well.

06:00
Café & le vent
Wind check. Coffee. Silence.
07:00
Session — kite
Glass water. Two hours on the line.
11:00
Leçon de français
A working French lesson over olives — conversation, not grammar drills.
14:00
Long lunch
Local catch, garden vegetables, cold rosé.
16:00
Session — kite
Afternoon thermals. Progression.
20:00
Dinner & a talk
A guest, an attendee, or a coach gives a short talk. One bottle. Long table.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— ARISTOTLE · NICOMACHEAN ETHICS · II
III · LES MAÎTRES

The hands you’ll learn from.

IKO L3 · 12 yrs
Resident kite instructor
Théo Lacroix

Pro kiteboarder, ten seasons on the French coast. Lives with us for the week — first on the water, last off it.

DELF/DALF · 8 yrs
Professeure de français
Camille Beaumont

Sorbonne-trained, teaches the daily lesson over olives. Patient, funny, allergic to grammar drills.

BY THE GROUP
Reading & dialogue
The table

No assigned guru. Each week the partners pick the text, share the chair, and trade questions over dinner.

IV · LE LIEU

Four houses by the sea.

Mer MéditerranéeIHyèresIIPort-Saint-LouisIIILe BarcarèsIVLeucateN

Each week we take over a stone farmhouse or a villa within walking distance of the launch beach. Six bedrooms, a long table, a kitchen run by a local cook, a small library curated for the week.

Lodging
6 ensuite rooms · long table · garden
Equipment
Full kite quiver provided · all skill levels
Coaching
1:3 ratio · radio in-water · video review
Transit
Met at TGV / airport · all transfers included
V · RÉSERVER

Reserve a week.

Eight spots per week. Pick one or several — you may attend more than one. We’ll confirm by post within forty-eight hours.

1 week selected
VI · QUESTIONS

Foire aux questions.

No. We host complete beginners through advanced riders, with a 1:3 coach ratio across three skill streams.