Today was a day devoted to nostalgia.  We took the girls on a pilgrimage to Talloires, the enchanted place where I met my husband 22 years ago and where I lived and worked immediately following graduation from college.  My employer was my alma mater, Tufts University, which owns a European Center in the center of Talloires, bequeathed by an alumnus of the university in 1978.  The center is housed in a centuries’ old priory, pictured here.  Not a bad place to live and work – we literally lived in the rooms in the eaves, above the conference center facilities located on the floors below.

We met up with an old friend and colleague, with whom I’d lost touch, who now runs the Center.  We had worked together during the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville when the Center served as the headquarters for the U.S. Olympic Committee.  It was a crazy and stressful time, but also exhilarating, and I have nothing but fond memories of that period during my life when I was so young and the world was mine to conquer.

The fact that it’s been 20 years since that first job was hammered home when my colleague informed me that the son of one of my former art history professors was now working at the Center.  That wouldn’t have left much of an impression, were it not for the fact that I first met his son 20 years ago when he stayed in Talloires with this parents, and took his first steps in the priory.

From there, we took a hike to the Cascade d’Angon, a gorgeous waterfall nestled away in the hills above Talloires.  The girls had a great time.  Sophie loved serving as our leader and picking the wild flowers.  Chloe loved climbing the steep rocks to get close enough to the waterfall to blow it a kiss.  Pretty spectacular.

We then returned to Talloires for lunch and to explore the port.  I showed the girls the hotel, La Charpenterie, where my husband and I first met and first kissed. “Gross!” was their reaction.  It’s a fancier place now, having gained a star in the hotel ratings since we stayed there in 1989.

We briefly visited the port, which was as beautiful as I remembered it.  Who wouldn’t love this place?