The Founder, The journey, unfiltered

First contact with the ocean

Water, from the very start, splashing around, and I love it.
At 5, first ride on a bodyboard. That discovery, that sensation, never left me. The ocean became my reference, my metronome, my rule.

First lesson, a real spark

The sport, the only one that matters.
At 12, first real lesson. The take-off, the drop, the glide. Surfing became the sport. The only one that really counts. An obsession.

The wavepool vision

The idea arrives.
An artificial wave, near Paris, accessible all year round, the idea is born, fuelled by that first basin at Étampes, dream-seller. Not as a fantasy: as a necessity. The vision stayed. On standby.

Travels, surf, work

The vision in dormancy.
Between 14 and 30: I travelled, surfed, worked, lived. Without realising it, my whole life was structuring itself around surf, chosen destinations, encounters, professional sparks. The vision didn't move. Nor did the urge to have a wave in Paris.

First modern wavepools

"This has to be done."
The first wavepool technologies emerge, Wavegarden, then others. The teenage vision resurfaces. The project becomes possible again.

In parallel, I create Webcam-HD.fr, which becomes GoSurf.fr. France's #1 surf media. And I take this opportunity to say "Thank you" to everyone who was there and supported me through that adventure.

First attempt, another founder

Engaged. Then stopped. Not broken.
I commit to a project alongside another founder. Our visions diverge, after three years, the context doesn't allow it to be carried through, it was too far ahead of its time. The vision stays intact; the method has to change.

Restorative pause, COVID

Process, analyse, restart.
Three years to understand why it didn't work, what to keep, what to rebuild. Then COVID in 2020, another forced stop. But the project doesn't die. It rebuilds, differently, in my head.

Worldwide deep-dive

Understand everything. Choose what matters.
Three years studying every surfpark project worldwide, open, under construction, abandoned, refused. Understanding models, mistakes, successes. Identifying what really needed to be done for Paris.

The name, self-evident

"Surfers Village Paris."
The name appears, self-evident. The shell fills through conversations: SurfPark, School, Pawaii, Membership, The Hive, Sports, Health Centre project, hotels & residences. What stayed blurred for 9 years becomes legible in a single name. Crystal-clear.

The project becomes presentable

From blurred to visible.
Since 2016, I'd talked about the project to family, friends, mayors and deputies. What was clear to me wasn't to others. This winter, it unfolded. Pitch, site, figures, 3D, everything fell into place.

But not thanks to me alone: I laid the first sketch; a duo of accomplices and a first-hour partner brought the vision to life.