Je me baigne

You won't believe this but this was my very first beach day this year. I missed all of June! Stuff was happening.

I learned to speak french on the beach when I first arrived many years ago. If you nestle your mat in amongst the locals between 8 and 10 AM, before the crowds arrive, you will undoubtedly hear polite exchanges about what was eaten for dinner the night before and what will be prepared for lunch today. My first french words were references to amounts: a kilo, a cuillere or a bon poignee ( a good handful).

Early this morning ( at 8:30 AM), on our public beach were the "three fat women of Antibes" from the Maugham short story and a couple of elderly nut brown gentlemen enjoying a glassy sea. There was not a ripple nor wave but just the interruption afforded by these swimmers deliberate, smooth strokes. I could see to the bottom easily, I could see some fish fingerlings coming to the top to feed. " Elle est bonne" the nearest bather says as you step into the sea. She,( the sea), is fine, perfect, not cold, sublime.

Our beaches in Nice are of "galets", smooth stones washed by water for eons until they are perfectly elliptical. They are brought in each summer from the Var river. All of the stones in the river are reserved by the city. If you try to buy some for your garden you won't find them. There are a million variations and colors and you will want to bring some 3 or 4 home with you each time. I do it, but don't tell anyone. It is "interdit"...against the law! Slip them in your sac and take one more dip. Elle est bonne!