The works were ahead of schedule, and the men beginning to get tired. My job was pretty full on at that time too and I had just 2 hours during my afternoon break to spend with the kids when they got home from school, before leaving again and not returning home until 1am, trying to grab as much sleep as I could before getting up again at 6.30am. So we made the decision to go away for a week during the school holidays. My parents-in-law wanted to stay and have a quiet time and house sit, which was fine, so we set off for Biarritz on the south west coast of France. I have travelled a lot around France, but never been there so we were all looking forward to it. Because we booked last minute we managed to find a really cheap apartment, overlooking the sea, with swimming pool and near the town. Not actually in Biarritz, but not far.
The kids were so excited, we had never had a proper family holiday before, it had always been visiting relatives, which isn't the same, and then when we bought the shop, we didn't close for holidays, so this was a real treat. We took a train round the centre of the town to see all the sights before attempting it on foot, we went to one of those adventure parks where you swing through the trees at dizzy heights. It made my legs wobble watching the kids balancing all that way up, even if they did have safety harnesses on! We ate out every night and lunchtime bar one, when there was a good film on so we got take out pizza and sat cross legged on the bed to watch it.
The funniest part was the carting. None of the kids had ever done this and it was an experience for them and us, as it turned out. The eldest took to it like a duck to water and raced off. Our twins weren't quite so good. Whilst the eldest was whizzing past our daughter was at a snails pace and did 1 lap to every 10 of his. You saw her fist shake in the air every time he whooshed past with a cheeky smile. Her twin brother had the speed too, but unfortunately not the control and spun off the track on every lap. The guy in charge was not most pleased as he had to go and fish him out of some bush or tyre wall every 2 minutes. The final straw came when it was time to come off the track. Our eldest came in without problem, our daughter would take another hour to get back to the beginning, and the next lot of racers were getting impatient waiting for her return. Her twin brother, however, put his foot down, lost complete control, nearly ran over the guy, knocked all the bollards down into the pit lane and then duly crashed into the back of a stationary cart. Needless to say, we were asked, in no uncertain terms, to leave and not to come back. Ahh, a holiday to remember!!
