Of all the places the Barefoot Blogger has wandered, aย trip to a French thermal spa for a cure has to be the most relaxing… and French! I’m pretty sure I was the only person at the resort who was from outside France. I was undoubtedly the only one not speaking French.
On the afternoon of the second day of the “French spa tour and cure,” Nevenka and I arrived at the Sourcรฉo resort in Saint-Paul-Les-Dax just to meet with the site physician. Before leaving on the spa excursion, I was required to bring a letter from my doctor stating I had no severe condition that would kill me while taking a cure. He had to note a reason for a cure, as well. Since I’m in good health, fortunately, we choose “phlebology.” Improving my circulation certainly couldn’t hurt.
The doctor at the resort seemed satisfied with my credentials, and I received his approval to participate in the “cure.” After unpacking the car and sorting out our belongings at our hotel apartment,ย we reported to the appointment center to receive our daily schedules.
French Thermal Spa Cure
My thermal spa assignment was to spend six days with four treatments daily. Each treatment was to last ten to twenty minutes. A body massage was added to the regimen for the last two days. Every day, I was given a fresh, clean terrycloth robe, which I wore with flip-flops through the treatment area and to the swimming pools.
Here’s how I spent each day: a little primer. (Click on photos for captions.)
Treatment #1: Bain carbo-gazeux- “Bath in cold Perrier”
I’m not kidding. I was immersed in a bath filled with cold, bubbly mineral water every morning. Talk about getting your circulation going. If it hadn’t been for the cheerful assistant who helped me in and out of the tub, it would have been murder.
Duration: 10 minutes
Treatment #2″ Mobilisation en Piscine – “Water Aerobics”
This was aerobics of the most straightforward kind. Merely moving and stretching in a warm pool. It was a welcomed next step after freezing in bubbly mineral water.ย
Duration: 20 minutes
Treatment #3: Hydro Massage – “Bath in bubbly hot water (36 degrees C, 98 degrees F)
Yes, it was hot and bubbling and absolutely divine. I could have stayed in the tub for days. But no … 10 minutes only.
Duration: 10 minutes
Treatment #4: La Pelotherapie – Boue = โMud Bathโ
This was the crazy good part of the cure. It was not a mud bath but a “wallow.” First, I had to disrobe, then enter a private cabin where the attendant plopped 3 vast mounds of gooey mud on a table covered with plastic wrap. I sat on the table just below the last plop of mud. The attendant spread a healthy glob of mud on my upper back, and then I reclined onto the piles of mud above. “Squish.”
The attendant, wearing an apron, mud boots, and long rubber gloves, stacked mud on my shoulders, knees, feet, and thighs. To keep the mud on my thighs in place, the attendant stuck my hands firmly into each thigh and slapped more mud on each hand. Next, she applied dripping wet, cold cloths on my forehead, chest, and on the shins of my legs. She wrapped me in the plastic I was lying on, leaving me alone to sweat. In hot mud, it is 46 degrees C or 117 degrees F.
Halfway through the treatment, the attendant came to see if I was alive and to wet the cloth on my head with more cold water. When the time was up, the attendant returned to the room and removed much of the mud from my body. I was left to wash off the rest under the warm shower in the room’s far corner. She hosed me off from the back and then disappeared into a back room. She quickly returned, holding a warm sheet that she wrapped around me. Slipping back into my terrycloth robe, I was done. Literally.
Duration: 15 minutes
Massage personnalisรฉ – Personalized body massage
A luxurious massage was added to my regimen during the last three days of the “cure.” It couldn’t have been more welcomed after a mud bath. I’ve never been a big fan of massages, but this masseuse made me believe. Perhaps I enjoyed it because I was already so relaxed. Whatever the reason, I needed to be reminded more than once that my time was up.
Duration: 10 minutes
French Thermal Spa Activities
We could have joined plenty of activities at the spa, such as Pilates, sophrology, hypnotism, dietetic consultations, and all types of water therapies. We would have had plenty to do if we hadn’t planned to make side trips to the exotic places nearby.
Stay tuned for day trip highlights… Biarritz, Bayonne and San Sebastiรกn
