The best memories of the editorial staff

It was beautiful, the time when we had two long months off. The long holidays, those that smelled of sun and icicles, lavender and hot sand. Those full of carelessness, Picsou Magazine, grenadine glasses and floral swimwear.

Out of nostalgia, we all (or almost all) remembered our most beautiful memory, the one that marked us, and we wanted to share it with you. A piece from our childhood that might remind you of yours.

Aïda, the summer camp Trappist

” When I was little my mother often worked as the director of summer camps. He took me with her to the four corners of France and I was entitled to a complete experience: dorms, canteen and other pony lessons.

The year I turned 6, I found myself in the forest for a “trappers” themed camp, and I, who was dreaming of becoming Castor Junior, was served. I slept in a big tent surrounded by friends, they made me make a hat with a raccoon tail on the end (I still have it and it makes me sick) and in the evening we roasted marshmallows on the fire, under the stars.

I felt like I was living in a Disney. If we leave out last night’s boom and the clementine dance (remember that hellish dance where you have to hold a citrus fruit between your forehead and someone else’s while you dance a slow dance? 6 years? What was the problem with adults at the time? ?!), I have very good memories of those times! “

Mathis, the flying teenager

” I’m 14, pimples from the top of my forehead to my toes, but mostly the rest of a pretty venerable peritonitis. It is 483 degrees and my whole family is quietly settling in this cottage which will become my nightmare in a few days. I’m coming out of two months of hospitalization (I swear it’s a good memory), just in time to enjoy the summer.

My parents have invited friends and their children to share the rent with us and they happily go swimming, hiking, badminton, sunbathing … Me? I watch them from the balcony. With the scar from my appendicitis that I can neither expose to the sun nor immerse myself in the chlorinated water of the pool, I devour books so as not to remain hungry.

My parents then organize an ambush worthy of the worst summer TV movies and invite me to do my business: a paragliding session. And here I am, trembling, the sex appeal of a dehydrated mole, ready to reproduce the most beautiful sequences of Untouchables. Except that Ludovico Einaudi doesn’t do “Vola” over and over again (I told you it was a good memory).

No dizziness, but a dose of adrenaline to the devil, with the certainty that my happiness matters to my parents and the feeling of having found my good profile: 50 meters away you can no longer see the buttons. “

Audrey, the new Hermione Granger

” As a child, every year I had the opportunity to go on vacation to the sea with my parents and my sisters. Our usual destination was in the Landes and I have always loved going to this region, with the dunes by the ocean, the waves, the tall pines, the sound of cicadas.

But one summer my parents decided to change corners and take us … to Ardèche. Along the way I realized that there would be no sea, my disappointment was immense (I’m almost sure I cried). Once there, to my surprise, I discovered a very welcoming area surrounded by the forest.

There was a large pool with slides, but I was never very comfortable in the water, so I was wondering how I would have fun. And then my parents suggested that we sign up for the workshops organized by the estate. There were a lot of activities for the kids and I ended up choosing a magic lesson.

As a Harry Potter fan, I was so happy! Every morning I joined the other children (I remember being the only girl) to learn how to conjure up a handkerchief: to make a handkerchief disappear, to guess a card, to make coins appear … And in the evening I proudly showed my family that that I had learned by organizing mini-shows! It was great and, in the end, I had the best vacation of my childhood. They only lasted a week, but I still talk about it with my parents, 15 years later. “

Manon, the Robin Hood of the mountains

“ I was on vacation in the mountains, because my parents wanted to escape the heat of the beaches. We had rented a small chalet in a deserted location and spent two weeks doing archery, hiking, pony riding and summer sledding, with a whole group of friends I had done on site. I only saw my parents for morning and evening meals, and spent the rest of the time with kids my age, doing a thousand activities.

A huge crush on archery, which made me feel like the toughest girl on the mountain. Hitting a goal was my new life goal and, frankly, in my memory, which is definitely totally biased, I was pretty good at it.

These parties are the sweetest memory I have left in my memory, more than 25 years later (yes, not everyone is young here, ok?) “

Marie-Stéphanie, the beginnings of independence

” Every summer with my parents and my brothers we would leave for several weeks on the shores of Lake Geneva, more precisely to Thonon-les-Bains, where my mother’s from.

My parents rented a new house every year, and each time was a new discovery. Generally these rentals did not have a swimming pool, forcing us, to cool off from the heat, to move every day, ourselves and our whole mess, to a pebble beach, not far from a campsite where we had made friends.

One year, probably considering that my brother and I were responsible enough (everything is relative!), My parents allowed us to spend two days and one night alone in this campsite.

We were around 10 and 13, and it was one of the first times I experienced “independence”. These two days seemed like an eternity to me: we made a group of friends, went to bed and got up at the time we had chosen and ate what we liked, all this, almost with our feet in the water. . It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s one of the best memories I have of those summers. “

Barbara, the daughter of the southern sun

“ Since my parents worked a lot, I spent most of my summer holidays (and the rest of the time) in my paternal grandparents’ family home, which is located in a small town near Marseille. .

In the morning I would wake up and always go down to the kitchen to surprise my grandmother who cooked some good Italian plates (yes, it was a kind of ritual), I helped her a little and she taught me how to make excellent cannelloni (among other things ).

I welcomed my grandfather back from work, drew, strolled in the garden, took a siesta, some music with my uncle and spent time splashing around in the pool, remaking the world with them until our wrinkled fingers show us. that it was time to get out of the water.

They are simple memories, but they forged my family temperament and my attachment to my origins. Even today, I never miss an opportunity to spend as much time as possible with them in my native south, or anywhere else. “

Maya, the innocence of childhood

” I was a cute 5 year old boy, we were on a crowded bus in Algiers. During the trip, we saw a majestic mosque standing in front of us, so I shouted: “Mom, she looks how beautiful she is!” Is this Chirac’s house ?! “ “

And you, what is your sweetest memory of the holidays?