France meant indulgence, freedom, sex, or at least the fantastic prospect of it, and .. release. And this meant caf?And, if I am honest, there was a level of intellectual adventurism about it all too. And the exhilarating exoticism of it all, so different to a sleazy English pub or coffee bar (as they used to be called). The amazingly well-dressed girls and the fact that you could eat and drink all day. Here was the sheer fascination of its foreign-ness The newspapers looked more interesting and more serious. Those first teenage trips on Channel ferries: the squawk of gulls and the way French petrol smelt different Such strange cars too The colours were better defined. This is because for my generation and, indeed, for most of those before, France offered the first vista of escape from the drab normality of England. Local hotels from 30 euros (£20) a night; the bunkhouse at the drop zone costs between 12-15 euros (£8-£10)a night..
Italy and the remnants of Austria-Hungary have their claims to great caf?ultures, but for me, France will always be the place to experience this living art form. Ryanair ( www.ryanair ) and Easyjet ( www.easyjet ) fly to Barcelona and Girona, two hours and one hour away respectively by road or by rail to Figueres, then taxi Prices vary, but can be as cheap as £15 one way. Good students can complete all of them in seven jumps and three days, weather permitting. After 10 consolidation jumps, an international licence is awarded which enables you to jump anywhere in the world. The Beatles were right, money can't buy you love, but it can buy you the next best thing, and that's a freefall jump from 13,000 feet.How to get in the zone on the Costa BravaThe Accelerated Freefall Course run by the FreeFall Company ( www.freefallco ) at Empuria, which has the largest drop zone in Europe, consists of seven stages and costs £1,200. The security blanket of the teacher has gone, and all that remains is a man at the door of the plane telling you to jump.A young lad from Bath, Nik, volunteered to jump from the same plane as me "It's nice to have a friendly face on board," he explained He was right The first solo jump is a test of the head A smiling, encouraging face across the seat is a great help.
It's a casual arrangement; just negotiate with him at the aerodrome.The next 10 jumps are solo, earning an international licence to jump. If you prefer something more bespoke, Bruno Brokken, a Belgian considered one of the finest skydiving cameramen in the sport, and who has many awards to prove it, will take whatever stills or moving images you require. They sound daunting, but you only need to do them once to understand how to do them again.The last jump with an instructor involves a set sequence of actions - getting stable, doing a somersault, two 360-degree turns and some tracking with the ever-demanded altitude awareness - and then that's it, the end of the AFF course.You do have mementos, though, as the instructors all sport cameras in their helmets, and a DVD record of each of your jumps in included in the cost. They hold and release you depending on your stability, and ensure the process of deploying the parachute is done correctly. From then on it is one instructor, and the responsibility on the student increases. Turns, tracking across the sky in a straight line, getting stable, all have to be learned and performed. In a matter of seconds my main chute would be cut away and my reserve deployed.
