I went to school through the war and although we were taught French there was not a lot of enthusiasm because we could not use the language, or even see newspapers etc. When I left school I went into a laboratory as a chemist but by 1946 the bike riding bug got me. I joined a cycling club, got interested in racing and I first went to France in 1950 with the aim of seeing the Tour de France- a very satisfying event even in those distant days!
I raced on the roads in this country for about five years and in 1952 was a helper in the Brighton to Glasgow race when a team from France ‘appeared’ at the start! To this day I do not know how this happened but it turned out my French was better than any other officials present so I suddenly became the ‘Interpreter’ and had a very eventful six days! I had several more cycling holidays in France, in 1954, riding the Tour route from the Mediterranean up to Dijon, via the high Alps
I changed career and became a metallurgist when I stopped racing in 1955 and took up camping, got married, had a family and as soon as they were old enough, spent our summers camping in Brittany. Then it was a caravan for many years, almost always to France. One year we got down to the Auvergne, the memorable event being when I filled up with ‘gas –oil’ instead of ‘essence’ – I learnt a new language in the garage that weekend.
I became a welding engineer building power stations and in later years was involved in preparing the new European welding standards, again with numerous trips to France.
After retirement in 1993 we took to gites and had numerous great holidays, culminating in retracing my ‘pedalling’ in 1954, this time in a car and we re-visited the Cols de Izoard and Galibier. Main difference was there were much better roads, and in parts they even had tarmac surfaces, than I found on my previous visit!
So I have had more than 50 years of visiting all parts of France and still enjoy it!
Alan Gifford - Jan 2009