our backyard

Yesterday, Leslie's French friend Yan asked us if we wanted to go to the lake. We were thinking he meant Lac du Bourget, the insanely large lake that's right by Chambery. No, he said, there was a much smaller, less crowded beach a bit further out of town. He said that he spent most of his childhood going to the lake, that the water was still and clear and people caught really large fish all the time (you would have loved it, Dad).

When he picks us up, we hop into the back of his tiny French car and he asks if we would like to take the highway or a more scenic route, even though it would take a few extra minutes. Scenic route was decided on instantly, and we were off. The drive took us up the narrow, winding roads of Europe, on cliffs with no guard rails and hairpin curves through fields. The view was incredible; we could see all of Chambery and the surrounding area. We pulled off at one spot and got a panoramique view of the whole city. All I could think of was the scene in Meet Me in St. Louis, when the girls are at the state fair and they're talking about how it's "right in their own back yard."

With the windows down, the French wind was blowing through my hair. I was staring out the window, lost in the lyrics of an American song that was popular three years ago, thinking about how this is one of those moments that you always remember: the sun, the trees, the view of Bourget from above and the perfect little houses nestled in the fields and quiet corners of the countryside.

Yan was right. The lake was perfect, full of families just starting vacations and naked kids running around becoming perfectly sun-kissed. We waded into the sand-bottomed lake; I had forgotten that not all lakes are like Indian Lake and was shocked when I could see my feet digging into the sand as the water covered my shoulders. The cold was perfect after the long, hot day. We spashed around for the daily dose of exercise and then went back to the grass beach to dry.

...and then I capped off the afternoon with doing my subjontif homework until I fell asleep and woke up at midnight.