Holidays to France as a kid
Discussion
I was born in the 80's and speaking with a couple of friends today.
Was talking about going on Holiday to France when I was younger and being able to go to a tabac and come out with a few packs of hollywood gum, a locknife and some mild explosives with those red fire cracker french bangers that were available anywhere.
I remember stockpiling a carrier bag full and hiding them in my dads car before coming back and getting in a lot of trouble at school when setting them off in a technology lesson.
I'm not imaging this am I. You could just walk into a newsagent and buy all this stuff? I seem to remember being facinated with swiss army knifes for a while as well.
Was talking about going on Holiday to France when I was younger and being able to go to a tabac and come out with a few packs of hollywood gum, a locknife and some mild explosives with those red fire cracker french bangers that were available anywhere.
I remember stockpiling a carrier bag full and hiding them in my dads car before coming back and getting in a lot of trouble at school when setting them off in a technology lesson.
I'm not imaging this am I. You could just walk into a newsagent and buy all this stuff? I seem to remember being facinated with swiss army knifes for a while as well.
As a young lad, collecting stuff was something of a thing.
So I decided to collect knives. Every holiday I'd be in the tabac, buying all sorts of flick-knives, sheath knives, etc etc.
The more formidable the better (or that's how I remember). I might still have them in the loft somewhere.
Fortunately I couldn't afford the quality jobs with a proper edge, so most were of the tourist ornament tat variety with a deliverate blunt edge.
I wonder if they need surrending, nonetheless!
So I decided to collect knives. Every holiday I'd be in the tabac, buying all sorts of flick-knives, sheath knives, etc etc.
The more formidable the better (or that's how I remember). I might still have them in the loft somewhere.
Fortunately I couldn't afford the quality jobs with a proper edge, so most were of the tourist ornament tat variety with a deliverate blunt edge.
I wonder if they need surrending, nonetheless!
Ahhh yes , french bangers !!!
Set a few of them off , mainly the little small ones which still had a kick but one year I found some monster ones never seen before. They were about the size of the cardboard bit left over from a toilet roll. Holy sheeeet they were mental. Good times.
I think the knives were called Opinel and you had to bash the top for the blade to flick out.
Ooooooh .....and my dad getting his 5 galleon water plastic thing filled up with red wine at the side of the road for next to nothing !!!
Set a few of them off , mainly the little small ones which still had a kick but one year I found some monster ones never seen before. They were about the size of the cardboard bit left over from a toilet roll. Holy sheeeet they were mental. Good times.
I think the knives were called Opinel and you had to bash the top for the blade to flick out.
Ooooooh .....and my dad getting his 5 galleon water plastic thing filled up with red wine at the side of the road for next to nothing !!!
Yes.
Even writing this now, I wonder what on earth we thought we were doing. Delicately inserting french bangers into dog turds on the path to the park and then running away when we lit the fuse.
Exploding dog crap... this was considered fun before the internet.
I know the U15's Rugby team at my school bought the biggest banger they could find on a school trip. They double the fuse length and then lit it.
It was "passed' around the changing room until (obviously) it exploded. I believe an ambulance was needed for burns to the arms and chest, happily nothing worse.
Different times
Far Cough said:
I think the knives were called Opinel and you had to bash the top for the blade to flick out.
I don't know anything about French bangers, but I always have an Opinel knife knocking about. This one lives in the pen-pot next to my desk at home and comes in handy surprisingly often. The blade is 100mm long, so legal, but the knife is still illegal to have in person without good reason, because the blade can be locked by twisting the metal ferrule at the end of the knife. I used to keep it in the car as it was even handier there. Every respectable Frenchman has an Opinel at the ready, as many of them (including mine) feature a corkscrew.
I remember the big petards around the size of a 440mL can being brought back. We had great times dropping them into a iron pipe that we'd found by local railway embankment and watching the tennis balls we dropped in after fly over the railway if we got the angle right.
It must have been heard in the drivers cab and he hit the brakes - we found out later from a friends Dad that "double dets" going bang on the line mean 'emergency stop train ahead broke down'.
[We did graduate from this to a furnace made from brick with the iron pipe inserted in, and UK spec aerosols being used as petards..........we managed to hit a train that time and became known not for the last instance to the BTP]. Hoist by our own petard indeed it seemed.
It must have been heard in the drivers cab and he hit the brakes - we found out later from a friends Dad that "double dets" going bang on the line mean 'emergency stop train ahead broke down'.
[We did graduate from this to a furnace made from brick with the iron pipe inserted in, and UK spec aerosols being used as petards..........we managed to hit a train that time and became known not for the last instance to the BTP]. Hoist by our own petard indeed it seemed.
Gargamel said:
Yes.
Even writing this now, I wonder what on earth we thought we were doing. Delicately inserting french bangers into dog turds on the path to the park and then running away when we lit the fuse.
Exploding dog crap... this was considered fun before the internet.
Bloody hell that's brought back some memories Even writing this now, I wonder what on earth we thought we were doing. Delicately inserting french bangers into dog turds on the path to the park and then running away when we lit the fuse.
Exploding dog crap... this was considered fun before the internet.
Ah.. the joy as a young lad going to France; Flick knives, heavy porn, served alcohol in bars, bangers, Hollywood gum, axe deodorant, Marlboro and camels, chevignon stuff, Levi’s everywhere, rugby and the local girls. Superb!
Britain was/is so up tight about everything, found their culture and ability not to give a f*** refreshing
Britain was/is so up tight about everything, found their culture and ability not to give a f*** refreshing
Edited by Boom78 on Thursday 18th May 18:44
Edited by Boom78 on Thursday 18th May 18:45
Yep - flick knives, bangers etc etc - fun times
My daughter is off to France on a battlefields tour next week, the letter from the school has this line in in....
• The purchase of tobacco, alcohol or weapons is strictly prohibited, as is entry to bars/casinos.
Spoiling all the fun they are!!
My daughter is off to France on a battlefields tour next week, the letter from the school has this line in in....
• The purchase of tobacco, alcohol or weapons is strictly prohibited, as is entry to bars/casinos.
Spoiling all the fun they are!!
JimmyConwayNW said:
Harpoon guns at the Mammoth hyper market.
Stayed at Eurocamp sites and I remember people taking buckets, washing up bowls etc to the on site takeaway and just getting huge tubs of mussels and chips.
Probably some of the best holidays now I think back to then.
We usually do 2 or 3 eurocamp holidays each year and our kids still love them.Stayed at Eurocamp sites and I remember people taking buckets, washing up bowls etc to the on site takeaway and just getting huge tubs of mussels and chips.
Probably some of the best holidays now I think back to then.
I might have to venture into a tabac next time to get myself a flick knife!
The bangers used to come on various sizes so we used to hold one, let it off then move up to the next size.
It got a bit edgy when you got to the thicker ones about half the size of a biro.
Wine in a plastic 5 litre container - tick
Flick knives and hunting knives - tick
School skiing trip at 15 where we lost one of our schoolmates after a night out at the local bars, cue panicking teachers (later found asleep underneath his bed having rolled off it) - tick
It got a bit edgy when you got to the thicker ones about half the size of a biro.
Wine in a plastic 5 litre container - tick
Flick knives and hunting knives - tick
School skiing trip at 15 where we lost one of our schoolmates after a night out at the local bars, cue panicking teachers (later found asleep underneath his bed having rolled off it) - tick
being in france for bastille day, kids going crazy throwing petards and fireworks around everywhere, buying a years supply of hollywood chewing gum, looking at all the opinel knives in the windows wondering which one you really really really wanted, and dad buying me a case of ‘panache’ to make me think i was drinking proper beers!
ahhh good times.
ahhh good times.
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