You never spend your holidays in a random place. The finger first refers to a point on a map, and then we choose the precise place where to put his suitcases … The region intrigue, the photos that scroll on the screen challenge, the description of places, experiences, faces that smile on the images, all this seduces us, tells us a story already. The choice is made, then we project ourselves, we get impatient … the countdown is launched, the one that beats the pace towards the day of departure and will lead the meeting with the hosts, those who created this place that made us want .
At Green Resort, it is the Dauga family that welcomes and its history is rooted in the hot smell of pines: “This Ondres forest around us, the family of my mother was already traveling well before the French Revolution to pick up the pines, which they were going to sell to the bourgeois of Bayonne. In a smile, warm as a hug, Patrick grazes the colorful characters that populate his memories of childhood Landaise: “My maternal great-grandmother was giving birth in Ondres, my grandmother Maria was healing the shingles, they were key figures in local life. Just like my parents, years later, who ran the hardware store and the gas station and knew absolutely everyone! “
At home, we speak Occitan of course, and we love this land of Occitania, long before the notions of “terroir” or “regional identity” were born. A visceral attachment, a common need for everyone to plant their feet in the ground. This is what Jean-Baptiste Lesca, the maternal grandfather, who has always refused to leave Ondres, firmly claimed: “enlisted in the navy at the end of the First World War,” says Patrick, “he found himself in New York at the time of the armistice. Imagine the euphoria of a city like New York celebrating the end of the war? For a young farmer like him, standing at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, to commemorate the end of the conflict that cost the lives of two of his dead brothers in the trenches, it was an incredible opportunity to discover the world, to celebrate freedom, and yet he has returned as quickly as possible to his farm, and his Landes forest, determined not to leave his village of Ondres! But 25 years later, at the end of the Second World War this time, he still has to move away from home reluctantly: “in 1945, the Germans fled the Landes coast as they could, stealing this they found, car, bike, horse … My grandfather found himself without a mule and without his draft horse. It was his farm that was at stake! Patrick is moved. A question of survival for him and the entire local economy. A few days later, the town hall is informed that the animals have been found and parked in Orleans, where their owners can pick them up. Jean-Baptiste takes his bike and begins a real journey on the roads of France released. On his return, with his mule and his horse at the end of a loin, he promises himself, he will never leave his beloved city. He will continue to operate his farm, one of the last in the canton to keep dairy cows. Until his 91 years, he will savor this landscape while furrowing the roads of Ondres on his old bicycle.
On the paternal side, the portrait gallery is just as endearing, with Maria, the grandmother who, up to 91 years old, kept alive the memory of her husband, Henri, this ardent grandfather, engaged in local political life. Leading from the top of the barricades the great strikes of 1920, workers of the Forges de l’Adour, he will then engage with the same passion to the mayor of Tarnos. During the Second World War, he became deputy mayor and courageously opposed the occupation by joining the resistance. Deported to a concentration camp, he will never return to his family. “When I was 19, my grandmother pushed me across the Iron Curtain to go to East Germany to visit the Sachsenhausen camp where my grandfather died. I did it for her and to remember him. » But the emotion of this journey is also born in the young Patrick a vital need, that of discovering the world.
In July 1981, he became the first civilian lifeguard on the beach of Ondres: “just to make me some money to ride on the roads before school”. And then at 21, he joined as a student steward at Air France, a real bargain that allows him to eat all over the world three months a year: Thailand, Ecuador, California, the West Indies, Scandinavia, Pakistan, the United States … the map of the world becomes playground. At the end of his studies, a friend of the rugby club, offers him his first job in London, he must prepare the opening of subsidiaries in Latin America. Trips start again: Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Mexico … “These were challenges every time, because most of the countries were still very closed, and culturally, I had to adapt, improvise, understand … » In this momentum, Patrick falls in love: Querine, a Dutch girl who grew up around the world, as free as funny and lively. He, the solid half of melee, capsized in front of his lightness. A citizen of the world, she did not dwell on building roots. By deciding to share the life of this Landais, she naturally adopts Ondres as home port …
The destinations are linked, the couple soon becomes family. The little Gabin and Floriaan are now part of the trips. After Brazil, they moved to Chicago, while buying the old water mill Ondres to establish the family home, a few steps down the farm from grandparents and ancestors. At the same time, Patrick’s older brother, Henri, takes over the municipal campsite a few hundred meters away. A first-time environmental activist, he fought numerous battles alongside the Friends of the Earth Association to protect the coast against insulting real estate projects.
For Patrick and Querine, there appears the unexpected opportunity to make a real professional break: how to occupy it other than this world tour they dream of? The stops are decided according to the friends: “we wanted above all to find people with whom to share, explains Patrick, and if possible with children to keep our two sons company. It was necessary to preserve a real family environment, it is important for us. In Brisbane, we were greeted by a former colleague. In Beijing by friends who showed us a city we would never have discovered alone. In Tahiti, a sailing friend shared with us the wonderful experience of life at sea. “Take the time to tame cities, countryside, coasts and villages, preferably by riding bicycles, a means of transport Darling of the family: “I always favored cycling, to work even at -15 degrees in Chicago, or when I organized two-wheeled parties with friends in the streets of Paris, well before the fashion of vélib! So during this world tour too, as soon as we could, we were standing behind a handlebars. As the stops go on, the family is sharpening their vision of travel and tourism:
“We have been marked by the eco-villages of Halong Bay in Vietnam, and by the Pacific atolls, where respect for the environment is not an option, but a matter of survival! In Japan, it is the extraordinary sense of service that has won us over. In Australia, I was passionate about how surfing became a real way of life … “
These values accumulated during a lifetime of travels and meetings, Patrick and Querine did not imagine that they would put them into practice soon. In 2017, when the family settled in Rio de Janeiro, Henri, the older brother, decided to retire and stop working at the Ondres campground. Floriaan and Gabin, who already work every summer in seasonal employment, naturally turn to their parents: “We continue? The frequent travelers become hosts in their turn. Since it is now necessary to receive, that it is in their
Protect and enhance the exceptional nature of the site, by starting important work on the site: “we buried all the pipes, take care to draw spaces that did not damage the forest … enumerates Patrick, we are not there to cut the pines that gave life to my great-grandparents! “Maintaining the environment and protecting the biodiversity of the site is the first guideline for the couple. “The European Ecolabel is a mark of recognition, of which we are proud! “
By developing the family business, they also commit themselves to the institutions to become energetic partners of the local economic dynamism. Since 2016, Espace Blue Ocean and GreenResort have doubled the number of year-round employees and hired about 40 seasonal workers: “I’ve always felt concerned,” says Patrick. In Brazil, apart from my professional activities, I chaired an NGO that advocates the improvement of public policies in the field of education. You can not grow a business without getting involved in the growth of the region where it is located. With our ecotourism activity in Ondres, we participate fully in the economic development of our territory and we also try to bring something to the population. For example, we invited the municipal school to use our pool, we proposed a plot for the creation of a circus school open all year to the inhabitants and many projects are underway with the hotel schools of the region … »
The third commitment, Patrick and Querine impose on their customers: “we pursue the concept of” eco-resort “where we want to offer an original and neat for family holidays as we love them! To live a unique local experience in the respect of the culture and the environment “, enthuses Patrick, before adding a detail which is dear to him” and of course, I am delighted to promote the discovery of the forest landaise thanks to the bike rides on countless bike paths! Accustomed to touring the world, they all four measure how important it is to feel welcomed. This smile of welcome which puts in a good mood instantaneously, Querine knows how to teach it like nobody: she, the polyglotte at ease in all situations, benevolent and attentive towards each one, vacationers and employees, she, who even knew to tame the fierce parrot Faster, who is now gambolling in the lobby welcoming the newcomers “a small glass of water? ”
This is the state of mind that awaits visitors to the Green Resort: holidays in the respect of nature, with a range of cultural activities, sports or wellness for the whole family. And the opportunity to meet, to interact with artisans and local cultural actors, to transmit this love of the region that animates the family. The story of a wavy family who welcomes you with happiness in the hot smell of pines.
