From Istanbul, it was another couple of days drive through Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia (where dad would years later work and receive an honorary ‘Gospodin’ medal) before arriving in Austria.
I had to add a bit of slo-mo and repetition to the film as I like this song so much, I hadn’t the heart to fade out (The kids are on High Street by Madrugada)
… and yes, we used to have (very safe) play fights with real knives and guns.
How did I end up the gentle pacifist I am? 
Bringing home the final leg of this trilogy- Camping in Paris
Here’s the blurb from YT:
After nearly a fortnight on the road, a ragged band of travelers rolls into central Paris on the lookout for a site to circle the wagons.
In those days a broad avenue ran right underneath the Eiffel tower and, as there was ample space, we simply parked right under it, jacked down the caravan legs and set up camp.
Dad’s diplomatic skills were put to the test, explaining the situation to the local gendarmerie (aided by the CD plates on the Chevy) and the Entente Cordiale remained unscathed.
It’s a pity there’s no footage from the evening, as I remember having dinner en plein air, with all the kids running around under the tower in our pyjamas while the grown ups enjoyed a bottle of red, much to the bemusement of locals and tourists alike.
Ah, c’était la vie!
Music: Il Se Fait Tard by Francoise Hardy
Oh how the world has changed, great share as always Brian.
Caravan park, just park? Just wondering about the ablutions 
Another treasure from/for the family archive.
No distinction back then from what I recall. You just took a latrine shovel with you. Bit like the military ones for digging foxholes. As I say times have changed. 
I am only now starting to look at these pearls in an organized way,… I have no idea what it is with these videos of you, your family, friends and acquaintances, I get nostalgically weak (tummy feeling?) like Toby up here… it will being the days gone by, and a slight leaning towards “the old days” …but come on, I’m only 48 years old…Thanks for sharing
These movies are terrific Brian, I’ve only just come across the latest ones. They are so nostalgic and as I’ve said to you before, what a fascinating childhood you and your siblings had.
I’m racking my brains now to work out when in the 70’s I was in Paris. I think it was summer of ‘72 so I just missed you and your caravan.
Let’s not talk about French public toilets David! 
Yes @TheMadman_tobyjenner I remember those special shovels for digging campsite latrines. They were called trenching tools and were bought from Army and Navy surplus stores which sold equipment left over from WW2.
In the late ‘50’s early 60’s we used to go wild camping in the north of Scotland and the trenching tool was used a lot!
Are they still going, used to get so much gear from them back in the late 60s and 70s when I was scouting. Sure that’s were I go my lat digger !
For anyone confused out there, here’s an old foldable US model but they originally came with a holster that could be carried in a belt of ruck sack.
Its not only the bears. 
Had to laugh at this, we used to use sticks as mock pistols and rifles (no trips to Kabul for us).
Did you play Union and Confederates back then as well. Imagine that now ! My brother has been sorting those slides I referred back on the old forum and sent me one of me dressed in my cowboy outfit ! I’ll search the digital cellar for a laugh.
You mentioned my dodgy bike videos, well amongst the slides something more shaky !!
Health and Safety Advisory Notice !
,
Yes yes, those days… I was still in a diaper then,
Knew I had them some where, this was pre 63 and you’ll see from the top pic, we’d already done the cattle round up !! All that land is Stevenage newer new town btw but back then was just a stones throw from the house. Bamboo rifles back then !
Your sharing brings back long lost memories Brian and I thank you for that !
Cheers
Toby
Roger, what you are experiencing is anemoia, (a word invented by writer John Koenig). It is nostalgia for a time you’ve never known.
I’ve never been in proponent of the grammar of nostalgia, with the present tense and the past perfect. (It was originally a term for homesickness felt by Swiss mercenaries)
I do however love to wallow in melancholia, that wistful longing for an experience/feeling in the past or the above-mentioned anemoia.
I often get it when I finish reading a novel.
I shall bypass all the toilet humour to complement the mad one on his choice of steed and sartorial smarts in all the pics 
complement or compliment 
We’re all wallowing in nostalgia now Brian. Sorry for the thread hijack.
I had exactly the same cowboy suit as you Toby and I remember my mum making me a Red Indian headdress one year using the feathers from a whole turkey someone gave us at Christmas.
On the subject of Army and Navy surplus stores. Nowadays we wear old clothes and shoes when gardening, painting, etc. My vivid childhood memory of my dad, grandfather and uncles is of them wearing ex army battle dress tunics, shirts and boots when doing any form of diy. I’ve still got some old inherited tools and a torch in the garage with the little ‘arrow’ stamp on them that all army equipment had.
Holy mother of … Brian,
What an enormous treasure trove of film material, FANTASTIC, how wonderful that your mother recorded all this for your family (and us of course).
The nostalgic boy in me sometimes had a hard time, but above all I really enjoyed the images and the explanation…
I could write a lot…questions…remarks…but I’ll just leave it at this for now…Thanks 
…this one hurts my back
I’ll say it one more time, then it’s done…
Great images and the music choice is brilliant…and funny, I laughed myself a good pain again…
Thanks for clearing that up…your right.
Although many of those childhood images remind me of those sporadic movies and the many photos of me and my brother, friends and parents, and our annual 4 or 5 week trip to northern Italy (formerly a trip of 3 days)… …does the term anemoia still apply?
But yes to this…that we have lost something crucial in our unceasing progress
Yep,same here
Extended family in the summer bungalow, County Wexford.
Granddad playing with the Irish Wolfhound puppy, Glen, and pouring cement for the garage walls.
Board games with local friends.
Cows and surrounding fields
Music: Time by Pink Floyd
