Dean, Stu, Joy, and Seth pick us up in their Land Rover and the ride to Grand-Bassam is uneventful and less than an hour. In Grand-Bassam we look at a couple hotels before we find one that fits the groups criteria: cheap, some level of comfort (fans), a clean beach, and a bar.
Grand-Bassam is divided into two parts (predictably): Old Bassam and Nouveau Bassam. The old part of town is on a spit of land that is separated from the new part of town by one of Côte d'Ivoire's many lagoons. Grand-Bassam was (for a while) the capital of Côte d'Ivoire during the French colonial days. Today it's a beautiful grove of coconut palms liberally peppered with the organic forms of decaying colonial buildings and churches. It's also a little touristy, but there's so much beautiful sandy, clean (by West African standards) beaches that it's not too noticeable. The water is notoriously dangerous but it's warm and the surf sounds wonderful.
The entire day is spent hanging out in the shade of coconut fronds playing cards, going for the occasional swim and just relaxing. An early dinner at the maquis next to the hotel was a good spot to watch the simple (but very satisfying - it was over water) sunset. After diner I abandoned the rest of the group and went for a walk on the beach. In the old village I found a bar / restaurant where I hung out for a few hours listening to a a really bad jazz band and just having alone time.