I am not Hemingway.....
 

but does anybody have any early memories of France and Spain in the 1950's and 1960's?

France in the early 60's when I was working on a farm and a chateau there:

-a large single cylinder tractor that was the only mechanical implement the farm had.
-kitchen staff getting me drunk on red wine while the owners were away.
-cycling around the local vineyards.
-watching a hill climb near Bordeaux. Cars performing such as Fiat Abarth.
-Lots of neat cars. Panhard, Reneault Dauphine, Deux Cheveaux etc

Spain?
-Lots of Seat cars.
-Drinking full bodied red wine in the hot summer sun.
-Fish soup - ugh..
-Sister got apprehended for swimming in a one piece bathing suit!Sorry no pics.
-I did not attend but my parents went to bull fights. How could they do that I don't know.
Just a few memories...
Any of you have early memories of France, Spain if not how about anywhere in
Europe?

I think you would like Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris". I gave it 5 stars. On Netflix.

I ran with the bulls in Pamplona in the early '70's. It was quite exciting.

I was in Italy in 1964 visiting my grandparents for the summer.

My uncle had a Fiat 500 and a Ford Cortina.

My grandfather still used a horse and wagon to transport the almonds & olives from the farm to his little oil pressing factory. All day the heard the sound of horses and mules clopped through the town.

Watching the little old ladies beat on almond trees with sticks so they fell onto the sheets draped under the trees.

Getting up real early in the morning to go to one of the more distant farms.

Watching the women walking with 10 loaves of bread on their heads selling them on the street.

Wine.....the rich dark red wine stored in earthen ware in the sub-cellar to keep cool.

Fruit the I picked from the trees on our farm. Lemons as large as softballs, figs as large as baseballs and cherries so very, very sweet...and the fragrance in the air, it was dizzying, it was so sweet.

1964 was still very "old" small town life in Italy. Modern luxuries were starting to make their way into everyday life. Yes, the telephone and TV were there but not all had these. If you had a TV you made sure to make it VERY loud so anyone passing knew you had one. It was the end of simplicity and the beginning of the complicated world we now live in.

Many, many more memories of the best summer of my life, but I'm at work and can't do this too long. ;) Thanks for stirring the memories today, it will make it somewhat easier to get through the day.

You surely do have cojones. I just hope you don't have the scars to prove it!

I was born in Spain in 1959 .. so not many memories .. but more 2CV and Issetas than Seat