"NOT THE TOUR DE FRANCE" France by BerniShand

It was a great idea for a family holiday, we would all have a cycle and set off across the channel on a `different` sort of holiday

just one teensy problem.....I can`t ride a bicycle with any degree of skill

No problem said best beloved, you can have a tricycle.So...for the price of a small car I had one, and I loved it

Off we set two boys on their shiny new cycles, husband on his with daughter in a chitd seat, and me on the trike with the youngest in his seat, and the tent and camping gear on the back

Train to London, cycle across London to Waterloo (we caused a stir in Trafalgar Square) on to Dover, the ferry and France

We found the last remaining space on a camp site n Boulogne set up the tent and opened the wine. Our neighbours were a lovely French family who`s grasp of English was as basic as our French, but the father was in raptures over my tricycle...manifique came into the conversation, wanting to inject a little humour I remarked that I was there to take part in the tour de france ha ha.
Big mistake
He was so upset that I had in fact missed it, I think he would have rung the organisers and asked them to re run it if he could. Of course after one or two glasses of wine I had forgotten that humour does not always cross frontiers, hell most days mine doesnt even cross my doorstep

We left the next day before I could put my foot in it again and pedalled through the French countryside it was glorious, but it took some time to find a campsite but eventually as night fell we managed to get a pitch
By now the days gentle breeze was a force six gale and our pitch was in the sand dunes...what fun..... if you have never tried to pitch a tent on sand you dont know what you have missed........but in the morning the wind had died and the sun was hot

Taking a stroll down to the beach we looked north and could see a town about 1k along we ambled towards it....could it be?.......yes it was!...it was the town we had eaten lunch in the previous day,...from where we had cycled for many hours and more kilometers to reach our campsite.......Oh how we laughed (NOT)

Unfortunately things didnt go well. coming over the brow of a hill I found devastation on the road,daughter had stuck her foot in the front wheel of Daddys bike, no serious injuries thank goodness, No1 son was squashed by an extremely large chap at an aquapark ,No2 son fell and bumped his head and No3 poked his finger into the cogs on a carousel.
The airbed sprang a leak and guide books dont give phrases for such an emergency (and j`avais une comme ca-ille parles pssssssst doesnt get you anywhere)

So we packed up and came home.... but I may have done something for the British cycle industry as everywhere we went my tricycle was photographed and commented on

So if you are French and you hear strange stories about the strange family with the strange cycle now you know they are true!