Just before Christmas, we visited our wonderful pals Ami and Tama who live on Lake Annecy in France. What a beautiful, beautiful place. It is so scenic, truly one of the most beautiful landscapes I have lain my lucky eyes on.

The schamazingness was made all the more schamazing by this absolutely bluebird winter weather that was totally out of our box. It is hard to find enough superlatives, so let’s just start with the prettiness.

We took a walk out their door, over that field there at the top, through a wood, and out onto that limestone plateau there with killer views over the lake and surrounding peaks. And then, down, down, down to Tailiores, a pretty wee hamlet on the shore of the lake.

A stop at one shop for fresh bread, a stop at another for cheese and dips and a bottle of wine, and voila! The loveliest winter lakeside picnic with besties that can ever be imagined (save for the small jetty that all three of the boys liked to run out to the end of and abruptly stop – that was kinda nerve jangling – but the rest of it? Bliss).

 

And then that evening Tama took us up a road behind their place that winds up, up and up and then up some more, till we hit the very top of the planet, or so it felt, and there we watched the sun go down.

Again, I am stuck for words. It was beyond, beyond.

I love those moments when you get to be so aware of how wonderful it all is.

Like all of it. Even how wonderful the 4 year old son is who is deathly bored of waiting for the sun to go down. Even him.

Well, most of all him.

And then there was other pretty stuff too. I can’t tell you the prettiness – let me show you.

Mirror mountains. This walk actually took us to yet another pretty thing – a waterfall.

And then pretty hot air balloons wafted overhead (not sure if balloons waft?)

It was all too much for my Great Harwood brain.

By the end of it, I needed a good ol’ dirty gutter and some abandoned lots to bring me back down to earth.

Of course I jest – and anyway, in reality, the best part of it was not the incredible beauty of our planet right about there, but hanging out with some of our best friends. And seeing our sons together.

That’s the unbeatable joy right there.