Speedos in France

[Bede735]

I recently had a holiday in the south west of France. I took a couple of Hom Microbriefs (with 1.5 " sides) with me, which being French made seemed appropriate.

There was an indoor pool in the hotel. and I noticed a sign saying 'no shorts or Bermudas allowed), though unfortunately this didn't have the affect of encouraging Speedo wear, as square cuts were worn by the other guys in the pool.

At the beach there were some men in Speedos, but these tended to be older ones. I didn't see any young men wearing them. Of course, the vast majority of women wore bikinis - thus conforming to the modern stereotype of beachwear in Western countries.

[Torchwatch]

I am heading for France next month, am trying to decide whether to go by train, by ferry and mountainbike or ferry and car.

If I go by train will go to the Bay of Biscay via Bordeaux, last time I was at Soulac Sur-Mere I was doing karate kata while wearing speedos on the beach as the sun dipped into the ocean, when I turned around there was a rainbow over the land. The campsite at Soulac has a brilliant speedos only swimming pool with water slides but I had spent most of my time at le Gerpe a wilder campsite a few miles down the coast.

Going by mountainbike and ferry gives me access to a number of ports on the northern French coast between Calais and St Malo (in Brittany). Going any distance is hard work and I'm not really bike fit this year. Using a different campsite each night is fun but exhausting, pitching and striking the tent every day and finding out where the toilets and shops are.

Taking the car over by ferry allows me to cover a lot of ground fast, but I will have to drive on the wrong side of the road when in France. The car would allow me to stop anywhere with security for kit locked inside.
I would go via Newhaven-Dieppe ferry and avoid all the migrants sieging the ferry terminal at Calais.
I rather like to go back to Carnac in Brittany where there are nice beaches and wild seas, where you can go to the supermarket in a wetsuit and where surfers and sunbathers mingle happily on the sand and in the foam.
I want to go back to the Valley of No Return and visit a campsite nearby where you can swim in soft fresh water in the lake, though I hear it may have closed.

Since you have to wear speedos or square cuts in French swimming pools all French men and boys own them although they may prefer to wear shorts on the beach. So although many of the younger men and boys on the beach may be wearing shorts they don't regard someone in speedos as being anything different or unfamiliar.

[zungaboy]

Effectively! wear speedo's is mandatory in the pools of France, In fact The French consider the speedo as "a normal clothes" beacuse all the french men have used this more than ever .. and also they will continue using.

In Europe in general, the people are much more tolerant with the speedos.

A website in spanish talk abouth some countries where the speedo is mandatory .
(spanish) http://yousozunga.webnode.es/news/aq...an-prohibidos/

[Schoolspeedo]

Originally Posted by zungaboy

Effectively! wear speedo's is mandatory in the pools of France, In fact The French consider the speedo as "a normal clothes" beacuse all the french men have used this more than ever .. and also they will continue using.

In Europe in general, the people are much more tolerant with the speedos.

A website in spanish talk abouth some countries where the speedo is mandatory .
(spanish) http://yousozunga.webnode.es/news/aq...an-prohibidos/

This is very interesting! Also interesting that some of the posters show very brief speedos. I didn't see any such posters at the leisure centre I visited in Austria last year though speedo styles were in abundance and I felt very comfortable in my brief (1") bikini style. Even when I made the side briefer to about half inch, no one looked twice. There was even a guy taking photos in the pool area which is banned here and with me clearly in the shot but I really wasn't bothered with the brevity of my speedo. I'll probably be on some web site or other!! Ha!ha!

[speedonutt]

You might hate me for this, but I went to a summer camp that was based on being a FRENCH CAMP.

On a private island in Puget Sound, the taught basic French ..... BY CAMP COUNSELORS THE BROUGHT IN FROM FRANCE (young French doing a kind if summer abroad. EVERYONE OF THEM wore a speedo and the camp was more about fun than French lessons. Summer in a pool and dressing room with French speedo or string bikinis.

I was sorry when I became too old for summer camp.