A holiday I'll never forget

I recently came back from my holiday in France (as of three days to be precise) and it really was a holiday like no other...

I started off going on the Eurostar (by myself!) to Paris to meet my great-aunts and uncle and my second cousin once removed. Very precise, I know but you have to be in these things. So anywho I spent rather a lovely time seeing exhibitions and doing some shopping and it was fab. My actual aunt and uncle and actual cousin also came along, so my family links aren't as tenuous as you first thought, ha! I then set off to Poitiers which is a town further south with my aunt, uncle and cousin. We went swimming, saw my grown up cousins, went to a theme park and played many a game of 'Carcassonne' (a wonderful game that I really can't be bothered to explain to you). I also learnt how to play 'Tarot'. This resulted in lot of laughter and tears...I'm starting to think that any game I play results in laughter and tears, it's supposed to be serious business! Oh dear. Right where was I... Ah yes. Next my younger cousin, me and my older cousins went on a road trip to nothing other than the countryside. I know, how exciting! We went to Marsangy to meet up with said great-aunts and uncle, and second cousin once removed and other aunt and other cousin, and later my own family. Phew. That was a mouthful. Now this is where the fun began. We got slightly lost so asked a cat and dog for directions (they replied!) which turned out to be most useful. Anyway before you get the impression that my mental faculties aren't quite in order, we did get to the house in the end. Our holiday could continue. Mission accomplished, OR WAS IT...

It really wasn't accomplished, as my dear old family travelling all the way from old Blighty had 'tombé en panne' or for non-French speakers 'broken down'. The car wasn't going anywhere and being an MG meant that my dear old Dad's eccentric love for these cars meant that no garages wanted to even look at it. Oh how delighted I was... This resulted in us cancelling our two week stay in Austria. But we are 'Percival's' and 'Percival's' don't give up (veritable cheese I know). We decided after about a week of moaning and various garage trips to go camping in the 'Morvan' with the hire car that was much too small. Now I must add that up until this point the weather had been glorious; sunshine every day and over 30 degrees. But of course in our new tradition of bad luck it was not to be. It chucked it down with rain when we woke up in our tiny tents the following morning. In fact by the evening my tent had dried on the outside but the inside was covered in water droplets. Also with the tent being so small it meant that I couldn't move. It was a joyous time. However we did visit some interesting places: Vezeley, Autun and Mt. Brevey where the old Gaulish village Bibracte was situated. Next we traipsed back to Marsangy to endure the mockery of our great-aunts and uncle (everyone else had left by then). Of course the weather had entirely brightened up now. But we were not to be disheartened, we tried again and headed up north to Normandy, to 'Eu' yes 'Eu' as bizarre as it sounds it is a real place! We stayed in a youth hostel in a room for thirteen people (ironic with our luck I know) and had it to ourselves. I really enjoyed it, we swam in the sea, visited the WW1 trenches and the pretty seaside towns nearby eg. 'Mers les Bains' and 'Le Treport'. So the holiday was not wasted after all. After our three days we headed to Calais in the sunshine and came out in Dover to the rain and cold. A true British welcome.

So there you have a summary of my holiday, I hope you didn't get too bored of my ramblings, I know I did. I shall now leave you in peace... Au revoir!