... Age six. in tell me a story about when you were...

The summer after I turned six was my first holiday abroad. We hired a tent on a camp site in Brittany (northern France). There was row after row of identical brown and orange tents (it was the seventies) with plastic windows that heated up at the first hint of sun 🌞.

The campsite had the most luxurious play area, it had an amazing, enormous slide and climbing ropes (which I could never manage) and a cool roundabout. This was next to the shop, shower and toilet area. I loved that play area, I spent as much time there as possible so excited by sumptuousness of it all!

I’ve seen the play area on an old cine film and it doesn’t look anything like my memory! It’s scraggly and lacklustre!

We were near a beach and we formed a completely incorrect view of northern France, that it was a hot and sunny place! Two weeks of being outdoors almost totally meant that, despite the large quantities of sunscreen that mum slapped on us, I got write a hefty tan, which then peeled quite dramatically, nose outwards! Of course the kids at school made fun of that a soon as we were back!

Patently, the main story from this holiday includes much embarrassment and poo!

I had the most glamourous pair of red, tartan shorts (did I mention, it was the seventies!) and needing the toilet took a certain amount of planning due to the distance we were from the toilet block… but the poo was a sudden visitor and it wanted to visit NOW. So, in true child style I gripped my bottom in both hands and ran/waddled as fast as possible, into the first free cubicle and pulled my shorts down. That was when I discovered that I hadn’t made it… So I pulled the shorts back up and, tears streaming down my mortified face, I waddled back to the tent to tell my mum. As you can imagine, she was exasperated. Why hadn’t I sorted it out myself? She marched back to the toilet with me and once my shorts were off once more as well as me being cleaned up, she sent me back to the tent. I was even more mortified as I now only had a t shirt on! My bottom was on show don’t you know!!

Other than that, the holiday consisted of the play area, trips to the beach, ball games and learning to hate sleeping bag liners!

Last updated November 18, 2015