Page 219 - Demo

215managed to get 3 weeks leave on the basis that most of the cost of the holiday was getting there and back. I would try to finish work a bit early and then drive that evening to Dover or whichever port we were leaving from. Once ashore I would drive through the night to our first campsite because that was less stressful than driving 3 children fighting in the back. They were strapped in but no child-seats in those days. Alex used to sit in the middle and would wind the boys up. Later when she tried to go to sleep they didn%u2019t like her leaning on them. Eventually they would all fall asleep and we would make peaceful progress. Gabby used to cancel the boys Beano and Dandy when they misbehaved but in fact she kept them and issued them out when we set off. And so they would have a heap of comics to keep them amused as well. For our first trip we stayed at a campsite in Bourge. This was an inland campsite beautifully laid out with hedges between pitches. The children quickly made friends even if they could not understand each other and so it was relaxing for Gabby and me as well. For the second 2 weeks we went to Paree du Jonc near Saint Jean de Monts in the Vendee. When we arrived we were horrified. The tents were all up against each other with no room to walk between them. The guy lines all crossed over each other. But we had booked it., were tired after the journey and decided to make the best of it. It turned out that there was a path to the beach from the campsite and the sea was very safe. It was a real family site and the patron went round at about 10pm making sure everyone was quiet. Noisy groups would get a stern warning. We referred to it as getting a black spot. Jane and her family arrived and stayed, and we all had a great time. Sometimes you would have no children around the tent in the evening, at other you could have a dozen or so to fettle with drinks and snacks. Not that we had many snacks in those days. So from a horrified start we spent the next 2 summers going back and had great times