We drove through France to visit friends in Italy about , I was 9. Sp , an old post office near a damn and very cold even though it was summer.
On the return we had a meal in a restaurant where mum misread the prices on the menu so we had to scrape all our francs together to pay the bill. It was a very good meal. The first time I had trout. When it arrived , plus head of course, my brother nearly 8 asked if they were the fish from the tank and promptly refused to eat it. There was a long weekend spent in the Alsace many moons ago and I struggle to remember anything apart from being impressed by the scenery and friendliness shown.
Then a gap of several decades visiting other countries. Our love of France only started some five or six years ago after a trip to Bordeaux staying in a place in the suburbs necessitating quite a long bus journey.
On that bus we watched a group of junior school children being well behaved and respectful and we spoke to some of them and their teacher. They were delightful. While exploring we noticed how happy people looked as they enjoyed the warm sunshine. Past the same place numerous times, 25 years later, going to and from Roscoff when I was teaching in Saint Brieuc, small world!
Actually, thinking about it some more, this may have been my first memory of Franceโฆ. I have such a soft spot for it and keep bothering people to bring back a new version for a new generation. Not my very first memory of travelling to France, but certainly an early very memorable one. We planned to travel far and wide, but alas, got to the South of France, Port Grimaud, had a great time and stayed a little longer than planned.
