Holidays

 Holidays in France

The deposit was paid every Autumn

With the balance due around Easter

Leaving seven months of scheming

Of planning our trips with Michelin maps. 

The tickets were posted in April

With car stickers for me and the badges 

Guides for the kids in yellow and blue 

The Keycamp livery and colors 

We took every route to la belle France

Via Dover-Calais and Rosslare-Cherbourg

But our happiest times were sailing from Cork

With Brittany Ferries to rugged Roscoff. 

The excitement of leaving quaint Cobh

As we stood at the stern looking out at the houses 

Colored so gaily, tumbling down to the water

Braving the sea, the breeze in our faces 

Unaware then of how happy we were 

To spend three weeks camping

In rustic sites close to the sea

In various parts of wild Brittany. 

We didn’t object to the morning reveille 

On a Sunday morning having crossed the ocean

We had felt each meter in the belly of the ship

As it ploughed its way with a shake and a dip. 

Early Sunday morning in Roscoff

Cars with roof boxes patiently queue

To embrace the roads in the early mists

While the natives sleep soundly through. 

The joy when reaching the campsite

The fun of finding our van

The kids went exploring while we were unpacking

Returning excited with friends. 

Inevitably we too would make friends

At the end of the day over a glass of red wine

Friends that lasted a few years

Christmas cards too for a while. 

Innocent times in the eighties

When we went armed with currencies 

The kids played with all nationalities 

Géant Casino supplied our groceries. 

The pleasure of shopping so early

For warm baguettes at the bakery

The smell of fresh bread and coffee

Under blue skies every morning. 

It all seemed so bright and exotic 

Each town a jewel of granite 

The tourists absorbed by the locals 

The sojourn as Gallic as garlic. 

No English breakfasts, no happy hours

Just men in berets and roads with nice flowers

The shrug of the shoulders 

The ‘je ne sais quoi’. 

The friends the kids made

Appeared night and day

First in the morning 

Then when we returned 

From yellow sandy beaches

Under wonderful  pines

Until three weeks had passed

Time to head home once again. 

On with the roof box 

In with the cases

Packed with the sandals  

And memories forever.