From my holiday journal, aged 13 years.
Mileage on the clock: 42104
Departure time: 3.40pm
Boarded the ferry at Dover: 8.20pm
Arrived in Calais: 11.25pm
Thursday 20 August 1981
First toll: 31f at 7.35am
Stopped for a drink 14f
Stopped at an autoroute services and had croissants and coffee for breakfast.
Stopped at 11.15am for rolls and drinks and passed a lovely village called Pont-sur-Yonne.
Stopped to pump up tyre - 3f
Stopped in the town of Dole for the night at a hotel called La Logis Comtois. Today we had driven 570 miles.
Menu for this evening:
55f
Ostereges Mayonnaise (no idea, but some sort of egg?)
Ou
Champignons a la Grecque
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Oudiflette Franc Coutoir (again, no clue)
Ou
Escalope du Logis
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Legumes
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Fromage or dessert
I manage to omit what we had to eat!
Friday 21 August 1981
The hotel bill came to 336f. For breakfast, we had French bread, coffee and jam.
We left the hotel at 8.25am and stopped for petrol: 100f.
Villages we passed that were beautiful:
Poligny
St Laurent
Morez
Stopped for coffee: 6.20f
Drove over the mountains and into Switzerland. Stopped for a drink and bought three Mars bars - 2.10f (which must have been expensive back then!). The Mont Blanc tunnel is 12km long! Stopped to take photos and for something to eat - 28,000 lire.
Stopped for the night in a town called Nervi, at a hotel called La Giara. For dinner, we had mushrooms in a sauce, cannelloni in a nut sauce, and risotto with cockles.
Saturday 22 August 1981
For breakfast, we had bread, jam and coffee. The total price was 61,000 lire.
Mileage: 43031.
Left at 9am.
Continued along the motorway over bridges and through tunnels. Passed through Livorno.
Arrived at Baia Toscana at 1.30pm.
Mileage: 43179 Total: 1075
We were supposed to be able to get into our apartment at 2pm but it wasn't ready. We went to the beach cafe and had a drink.
Our apartment was ready at 4pm. Had minestrone soup and unpacked. Then we went shopping and bought two big loaves and some drinks. Dad and I went back down a little later and bought milk.
Dinner tonight was baked beans, ham and eggs with French bread.
After dinner, we went to the bar and met some more English families.
Sunday 23 August 1981
Woke up at 7.30am and had breakfast. Went down to the beach until 10.30am and then we returned to the apartment and freshened up. We went to the bar for a welcome drink. Afterwards, we returned to the beach and ate lunch. I did a lot of swimming.
In the afternoon we showered and went to Follonica. We bought ice-creams and a mat for the beach. We returned at about 4.30pm. We then walked to a bar at the other end of the beach.
We bought some food at the shop - 4900 lire.
We went back to the apartment and had spaghetti for dinner.
At about 8.30pm we went to the bar to watch films about Rome and other places to visit. I felt tired so Dad took me back.
Monday 24 August 1981
Dad went to the shop and bought bread and jam which we had for breakfast. We drove into Follonica and the car started to play up and stall, so we parked it just outside the town. We walked into Follonica and bought salad, cheese, vegetables and steak.
We walked back to the car after buying some ointment for our insect bites! It was a long way - about a mile and a half.
Back at the apartment, we had lunch of cold meats and salad and then went to the beach.
At 5.15pm we returned to the apartment to get ready for the Lasagne Evening.
Included in the Lasagne Evening was a side salad, a bowl of lasagne, wine or orangeade, ice cream or coffee. We played bingo after the meal and Mum won two tickets to the party on Wednesday which were worth 11,000 lire each.
Tuesday 25 August 1981
We went to the beach, had a swim and sat on the rocks. Lunch was soup and bread. In the afternoon we hired a pedalo for 3,000 lire an hour.
Dad played volleyball and Mum and I went to do some shopping.
Dinner tonight was steak and salad and after we'd eaten we went to the bar. I played table tennis with an English girl called Suzanne all evening.
Wednesday 26 August 1981
Today we drove to Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower. We arrived in the town at about 1.30pm after travelling through lots of mountains. On the way, we stopped at a little village to go to the chemist as I had hurt my toe. The chemistry dressed it for me and Mum bought some more plasters. We walked around the village and saw a market taking place.
At Pisa, we took some photos and then went to a pizzeria for lunch. We sat overlooking the tower.
After lunch, we walked around and Dad bought me a tee shirt with "Pisa" on it.
We returned to Baia Toscana via the autostrada and the car started playing up again when we reached the resort. I went to Bill and Eileen's (English couple) to borrow some hair conditioner, and Dad and I went to the shop to buy chocolate.
In the early evening, we started getting ready for the party and I wore my pedal-pushers and a blue blouse.
We arrived at about 8pm and for the first course, we ate cannelloni, followed by pork chops, kebabs and salad. Suzanne and I played table tennis again but we were told to come back for the sparklers and cake.
After we'd eaten, there was dancing and a Dutch boy asked me to dance. Returned to the apartment at midnight.
Thursday 27 August 1981
I had yoghurt for breakfast and then I helped Dad wash the car. Afterwards, I went to the beach and had a swim. I saw Suzanne and we went for a walk to see her Mum.
Lunch was fried eggs, bread and ham with beans. I went swimming with Suzanne in the afternoon.
In the evening we went to a restaurant in the mountains with Bill, Eileen, Tony and Sheila. The restaurant was called Balbo. Afterwards, we went back to the bar and Suzanne and I went down to the beach where there was a bonfire. Went home at midnight.
Friday 28 August 1981
I didn't have any breakfast, and we went to the market at Follonica and I bought two necklaces. Dad bought lots of steaks and food for the barbecue on Saturday night.
In the afternoon, I saw Suzanne and we went swimming, and I also played tennis with Dad.
In the evening we tried to find the town of Roccamare but we became lost so we turned back. Back at the beach bar, I sat with Sylvain (Dutch boy) and his friends. Suzanne wasn't there this evening. I went home at 10.30pm and felt very tired.
Saturday 29 August 1981
I had a yoghurt for breakfast and Suzanne came around to see me. We sat on the rocks and sunbathed whilst getting wet at the same time!
We walked up to the bar for an ice cream, came back and spent the afternoon on the beach.
In the evening we went to the barbecue at about 7.30pm. We ate steak, salad and jacket potatoes. After we'd eaten Suzanne and I went to the bar and sat with Sylvain and H. (Obviously can't remember H's name, might have been Helmut? Heinrich?).
Returned to the apartment at about 1.30am.
Sunday 30 August 1981
I spent the morning at the beach and had soup for lunch, with lots of ice cream in between.
In the afternoon we played on the lilo with Sylvain and Monique. The waves were very rough. We did a lot of swimming and sunbathed for the rest of the day.
In the evening we went to the welcome drink again, and Sylvain and H came to sit with us. Suzanne and I had a pizza and bought a big bottle of lemonade. Mum and Dad went into Follonica.
Monday 31 August 1981
This morning we had eggs and beans for breakfast and afterwards, we went to Follnica. I bought a pair of white sandals, and we bought some presents to take home - a jug, plates, vases and lots of other things.
Returned to the apartment at about 1pm - I went for a swim and then read a book.
Later, I went onto the lilo with S and H, and they had lots of fights and generally acted stupidly.
Mum and Dad went to Scarlino in the afternoon and took lots of photographs. They saw an excavation by the castle there.
We went to the lasagne evening again and I talked with Sylvain. Went home at about 10.30pm.
Tuesday 1 September 1981
Today I went to Rome with Angie, Jack, Suzanne and Laura, as well as Tony and Sheila. We left at 6.45am to catch the train and arrived in Rome at about 10.15am.
We caught a bus from Tiburtina station to the Colesseum and I fell off the bus and twisted my ankle.
We looked around the Colesseum and bought drinks and postcards, and then went to a beautiful white building nearby and I dipped my foot into a fountain. Next, we walked to the Trevi Fountain where I bathed my foot again. I threw some coins into the fountain and we had lunch.
After lunch, we visited the Spanish Steps and Suzanne and I sat down and waited for the others. Jack and Angie hired a horse and open carriage which took us to the Vatican.
St Peter's is lovely and Laura, Jack and Angie went upstairs while Suzanne and I stayed downstairs. We then caught a bus to the station and had pizza and orangeade. Jack put loads of ice on my foot and it melted all over the carriage floor!
We arrived at Follonica at about 11.30pm and went to the bar. I sat with S, H and M. S came home with me as I had difficulty walking!
Wednesday 2 September 1981
Today it rained a little, but only in the morning. I went to the office with Dad and met Suzanne.
We went onto the beach and Suzanne and I went for a swim, then we took H's canoe out onto the sea.
Suzanne had lunch with me, and then we went back onto the beach and swam. We went out onto the lilo with Sylvain and chatted to him on the beach afterwards.
I went back to the apartment at about 6pm, showered and washed my hair before popping around to Bill's to see if he had the paper. Angie came to our apartment and ironed her trousers and Suzanne's Bermudas.
Suzanne and I went to the bar and had dinner at 8pm. I didn't like the meal (whatever it was!). Sylvain and H came to sit with us and we watched a cartoon. We then went outside and talked a lot... (I had my first kiss!). Went home at midnight.
Thursday 3 September 1981
We woke up at 4am and dressed before having a coffee and loading up the car. It was very dark when we set out at 5am.
Miles on the clock: 43440
Stopped for coffee and the first toll.
Drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel at 1pm.
Stopped in a village called Frangy to change some money
Stopped at 6pm and stayed in La Ferme Auberge. We had dinner and chatted with an English couple.
Friday 4 September 1981
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| Outside La Ferme Auberge with dogs |
Mileage on the clock: 43928
Left at 9am
Stopped several times for petrol, tolls and refreshments.
Boarded the ferry at 8.15pm
Mileage: 44363
Arrived back in England at 9pm
Ate dinner and bought perfume, spirits, wine and cigarettes (My Dad smoked back then).
The car had been playing up all the way home so we had it checked by a AA mechanic and it needed a new distributor. Finally left Dover at 11.15pm and drove to Dartford.
The next day we attended my cousin Kim's wedding to Shirley - they are still married! (2022).
Sum up: One of the best holidays I've had!
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