Page 268 - Demo

264not have a proper job and wanted to make sure that Alex got her money%u2019s worth. Eventually they saddled up and trotted off. Alex came back ages later. They had trotted off and then the leader had asked if everyone was alright before they cantered away, jumping over things for way longer than they had advertised. Alex was over the moon. For the rest of the holiday she would wander over to the horses. One day the patron asked if she would like another ride and she replied that we could not afford it. %u201cNever mind%u201d he said, %u201cCome anyway%u201d. They gave at least one free ride and were most kind. Unfortunately one horse died in the field and lay there for quite some time before anyone even covered it up, let alone moved it. That was rather sad.We found that paragliding was available, and Gabby wanted a go on a tandem glider. We dutifully turned up at the caf%u00e9 and found the guide inside probably having a drink. He told us to follow him up a hill which we did in the car. He produced the equipment and took the boys for a flight. I had to drive his car down to pick them up and bring them back. It would have been many years since that car had passed an MOT. After the boys had had a go, he strapped Gabby to the harness and off they went. Gabby loved it but in her excitement just felt the need to shout out a string of profanities. We had a lovely time and when we decided to buy a French house I would have loved to buy one there. However. It would have been too far to drive in a day which we had as a requirement. We had one more family holiday in the caravan the next year when we went to Lake Garda with the Topper and eventually ended up by lake Annecy again. Out of the summer holiday period, Gabby and I usually went to Northern France, sometimes alone, sometimes with other friends and sometimes with Paul and Jackie. We used to visit the first World War battle fields but one year went to Normandy to see the landing sites. We very much enjoyed France.