It amused me the other day to hear that a reader thought that I’m called “Esmé Page”! No, I am Esmé Feltham.

Older readers may remember Feltham’s Coaches, blue and yellow and called, Kingswood Queen. Very often when there were two empty seats, Ron and I would jump onto the coach. We didn’t mind where it was going. We just wanted to be together. At our wedding, threee coaches took the guests from Kingswood Church to the reception at the Berkeley in Clifton.

I’ve done many different jobs. Teaching was the most rewarding. Running a Post Office had the bonus of us being together, but working for Haven Holidays was the most fun. We did it for 9 years before moving south from Brittany. We chose a site in the Vendée. After the south of France, the Vendée has the most hours of sunshine per year. Perhaps it is because of this climate that the people there are so ‘smiley’.

The campsite that we chose is called Les Amiaux. It is the largest in St Jean de Monts. We soon became friends with the owners and they still keep in touch with me. Ginette the daughter told me that once it was a farm where one evening, a car pulled in and a young couple asked if they could pitch their tent! From little acorns, oak trees grow.

There were six different holiday companies with mobile homes on the site. The one thing that annoyed the owner was our party nights. They held a party night themselves once a week, so didn’t welcome any opposition. We were the only company that they allowed inside if it rained. Not fair on the others!

They came for a holiday in our Clifton flat. Their visit taught me a lesson. Their house on the camp site was huge but very dark. I thought they would absolutely love our beautiful turquoise and silver flat with its balcony overlooking the Downs. Their bedroom overlooked the Old Vic Theatre School which was always lively and interesting. Madame loved it, but not her husband. He said that he preferred their house because in our flat he felt like a bird in a cage. One man’s meat is another man’s poison!  The day we took them to Bristol airport for their flight back to Nantes, we drove straight to Southampton, caught the ferry and then drove to Cognac to look at a farmhouse for sale. I’ve told you before how impetuous we were, and I still am. But that is another story!

Enjoy August,
Esmé 

We really enjoyed working for Haven Holidays. There was never a dull moment! The first site that we managed was “Le Bois de Pleven” in Brittany. You have probably heard the saying “Worry is the interest you pay on things that never happen!” The office staff had told us that no one had lasted a whole season there due to the difficult French manager and the huge number of mobile homes. We had worried in vain! Sixty two mobile homes were an asset because they were not all occupied at the same time so change over days were no rush.

As for the couple who lived permanently there, they became close friends. We were invited not only to all the events on the French side of the park, but to all their family events. We gave them and their children holidays in Clifton!
 
We also made many friends in the village of St. Yvi. Our doctor loved music and all his children played a different instrument. When he insisted that I spend a week in Quimper Hospital because of my alarmingly high blood pressure, he visited me twice, each time bringing his guitar. He sat on the bed and serenaded me!

The couple who ran the village Post Office quickly became friends too. They were amazed that we had actually bought a Post Office and could sell other things besides stamps! I was speaking to them yesterday on the telephone.

The only reason that we moved after two years was to go south for more sunshine. Head office gave us the choice of several sites and paid all our expenses to go and look at them! Perhaps it was because the 'top boss' had visited us at St Yvi. He had driven many miles and looked tired. After feeding him and enjoying some wine together, I offered him our bed for a siesta. He slept  for four hours before driving on to the next site.
 
More  about French holiday parks in August and about French schools.

Esmé