Saturday, May 26, 2007

Isobel's birthday


Tom and Isobel on the beach at Val-André.

The exquisite and delightful Iso is ever more so now she is pregnant. I'd heard tell this happened sometimes but have to say I'd never really witnessed it before.


As she was at a loose end on her birthday, we met her in Lamballe, where Tom observed this feral terrapin sunning itself for all to see on a rock in the Gouessant river.



Well there's a thing!



Then we went out to Val-Andrè for lunch. Moules-frites, cider for me, rosé for Tom, but, alas, just plain water for Iso.


Then the walk on the beach. Not too many people; when there aren't too many, they're always more interesting, out-of-season types, I think.

Pretty little sailboats,


sunny buoys,



washed-up jellyfish ( Tom, tender-hearted even to invertebrates, except the clams he ate for lunch, put this crystalline entity back in the sea after I'd photographed it)

seaweed dragons,

and yin-yang dogs.


And the good thing is, since Isobel's job is playing the ingénue in the hilariously brilliant, Edinburgh festival prize-winning, Fiat Lux mime company, her doctor has rather frowned upon her travelling long and wearisome distances, staying in hot and sticky places in uncomfortable hotels, throwing herself energetically off high platforms and other props, and generally jumping about as she does, so has signed her off work for somewhat longer than ordinary maternity leave, and she will therefore be at a loose end much more often over the summer, while Pascal, her other half, must continue to ply his trade about the world disguised as a gauche fisherman or pink-clad middle-aged lady. So that means we'll see Iso more often.


7 comments:

Catalyst said...

I keep saying it but I'm going to keep on saying it. You are an absolutely amazing photographer, Lucy.

Jan said...

I have a friend who had 3 babies and with each pregnancy, she became more beautiful.
And yes, I agree re " out Of Season"; we have lovely times in Cornwall, but the best ones are exactly then....beaches in January, Cornish pubs in November, the Moors in windswept March.
And the people are there for different reasons than those who go midsummer.

herhimnbryn said...

Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Your photographs have made me............sigh ;)

leslee said...

Lovely photos. Looks like you had a lovely day, in good company.

Anonymous said...

What charm and lightness and color in this sequence, Lucy! I assume Tom also put the unfortunate water dragon back in the sea...

meggie said...

Lovely pics to enjoy! The beach constantly calls to me, but I dont get there often enough. Yes off season is best anywhere really.

Lucy said...

Thank you! It was a lovely day.
I don't get to the beach often enough either, though it's not so far. The wilder beaches, which are somewhat estuarine, are best for winter; this is just the right time for a place like Val-Andre, as there's just enough light and life and movement and colour without it being saturated. Even in high summer, though, you can get out in the morning or lunchtime and have plenty of space, it doesn't start thronging till about three, but they're stricter then about dogs on the beach, which is fair enough.