Lido Days

So today we’re in deepest, beautiful France. Number 1 son, granny and I spent the day the local municipal piscine.

If I were to put a kit together for the local French lido, what would I put in it?

1. For no. 1 son a pair of Olympic swimmer type trunks as the shorts style is banned in public pools. Apparently it’s on health and safety grounds but we still haven’t worked out why this is more hygienic!

2. Pool toys…. These pools are not really designed for practising your lengths of power crawl so inflatable beach balls, floats and even water guns are the order of the day to keep the kids (and adults) occupied.

3. Sun cream. These lidos are little sun traps, surrounded by privacy trees and with the reflection of the water. We thought there was a breeze today but by the evening we were all sporting various lobster shades of tan!

4. A magazine …. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great fun in the pool. Unlike the French we always arrive at the opening time of about 11am therefore we are often almost alone in our water activities. By 3pm the town’s children, parents and teenagers have arrived en masse. I realise it’s quite intolerant of me to feel irritated at the umpteenth beach ball bouncing on my head and the line of small children swimming under my legs, no. 1 son seems to be able to continue his diving, sliding and leaping in the water but it’s at this point that granny and I find our bliss relaxing on a towel at the side of the pool with the latest glossy.