Scanned Pic of My Brother & Christian During the Family Summer Vacation of 1987

In recent months, I have been doing a lot of cleaning of the old family house, where my parents largely raised my brother and I from the point when I was a third grader on through college, in the case of both my brother and myself.

During this stretch of time, there have been some pictures unearthed, and it has been both a surprise and a pleasure to kind of relive some old memories with pictures long assumed to either have been thrown out, or in some cases, to have long before ceased to effectively exist, even. I remember seeing pictures, for example, of a side trip to Belgium and even a few hours in a Dutch town that my brother and I went to in the summer of 1985, when we were both still kids. There were also pictures of the towns of Taverny and Leffond, the two towns where we would spend the most time during our trips to France in the eighties, as our aunt and her husband had homes in both. 

There was one summer - the summer of 1987 - that stands out as particularly memorable. For me, it was memorable for several reasons, actually. First of all, looking back, I now feel that, in a very real sense, it was the last actual summer of my childhood. And not only did we spend it in France, but my parents joined us there. Together, we traveled to the Alps for a couple of weeks, to the home of Christian, who I believe is my cousin (my father's half brother's son). He was a really cool guy, and figures rather prominently for us in that trip. He played the guitar rather well, and I remember one evening in particular where our family, my aunt's family, and Christian and his girlfriend (and possibly more people) were all assembled in Taverny, the main home, which is in the banlieue (suburbs) of the greater Paris region known as the Île-de-France (Island of France). That unforgettable evening, what I remember most is Christian playing the guitar. He may only have played for a few minutes, and surely that evening lasted only a few hours. Yet somehow, in that funny way that memories have, it has figured much longer than that in my own mind. Like a fine wine, memories of that evening have only grown better over time. 

Recently, I found another picture from that night, separate from the ones I had already published. This one was of my brother on that evening, sitting in between my cousin Christian, and his girlfriend, Veronique. Christian is the one with the guitar, and this picture is perhaps the one that captures the evening best, on some level with it's relaxed feel. The first version has more vivid colors, and was taken by my parents, with their scanner. The other version of the same picture looks more dated, and was simply a copy taken from my cell phone camera.

This picture was from that summer of 1987, either in later July or early August of that year, in Taverny. 

Scanned picture of that evening.

Scan

Pictures from the Summer of 1987 (July - August, 1987):

My parents sent my brother and me to France, where my aunt (my father's sister) took us in, during the summers of 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1989. Each one was special in it's own right. In 1982, I was very young (seven years old) and had little memory of having actually lived in France. So everything felt new. I remember how excited I was to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time, even though it was tinged with disappointment because of the nets hanging out of each level (they were painting it). In 1985, other family members took us in, and we stayed in different towns, including Taverny and Leffond (with the aunt I already mentioned), Marly-le-Roi (our family town in France, with our other aunt), Villepreux (our other aunt), and Saint-Pathus (with yet another aunt). We also took a few days trip into Belgium, with a few hours excursion just into the borders of some small town in Netherlands. In 1989, it was the bicentennial of the French Revolution, and we went to Paris during the celebrations. It was very memorable, with some great fireworks, and a very festive atmosphere.

But the trip that I seem to come back to the most and which seemingly I remember most fondly, was the summer of 1987. That was the only one of those summers where my parents met us there, maybe two or three weeks in. We visited the Alps, which was the most amount of time that I would spend in any major mountain range until at least the 2010's, when my son and I took trips out west. We visited some beautiful cities and villages, and even took day trips into Italy (Suza and Turin), as well as an afternoon in Geneva, Switzerland. I was happy to be in Europe, generally, and France specifically. As I recall, it felt like the perfect age, being 12. It was the last summer where I seriously was into collecting toys, and Europe had a virtual treasure trove of toys, many of which would have been virtually impossible to obtain in the States. Yet, despite this fixation on toys, I was also starting to finally be old enough to appreciate some of the beauty and grandeur that Europe offered. That, plus the mixture of the abundance of natural beauty in the Alps, made that summer particularly memorable, and it seems that I remember this trip not just more fondly, but also more often than the other summer trips to France of the eighties. 

In any case, here are some recently unearthed pictures of that summer of 1987:

This was a picture taken somewhere in France, although I am not sure where. Perhaps my parents, or maybe even my brother, might have a better memory of this place?

Le Pont de la Caille connecting Allonzier-la-Caille to Cruseilles in Haute-SavoieCruseilles, France

Another picture of some city in France, but which I could not identify at the time that I published this. However, the most recognizable cars in this picture are the iconic Citroën 2CV's. My very favorite model is the Charleston, and you can get more or less a glimpse of the maroon and black color scheme. Love those cars! If money were no object, I would have one of those as a weekend/leisure car.

Embrun:

The summer before this one, I earned the nickname "Spider-Man" from the kids that I shared a cabin with at summer camp in Frost Valley, New York. That was because I used to climb up and around the beams near the ceiling of the place, with remarkable confidence, and apparently with a sense of invulnerability.  I still had quite a bit of that during the next summer of 1987. Here I am, engaging in one of my favorite activities during that summer, climbing the side of one of the stone supports on the side of the house that we were staying at in Embrun. It almost looks like I am floating, at first glance. In fact, I am delicately balanced on the edge of some stones, with any notion that I could fall and hurt myself really not given much consideration. It almost makes me nervous today, in retrospect, just seeing this image. Yet, I never did get hurt. Obviously, I used to walk around barefoot quite often in those days. Strange kid, eh? This very well may be one of my favorite pictures from my childhood, as it reminds me of that easy frame of mind, and the instinctive, almost unthinking athleticism which seems to be the exclusive domain of childhood.

Annecy

Obviously, this is a picture of a postcard of Annecy. Below are the pictures that my father took, presumably:

Other pictures from the Alps:

I do not know what church this is, with the beautiful stained glass.

I think this might be Lac Annecy, although this might be confirmed by either my parents and/or my brother. 

My brother and I in front of that lake, with me climbing the tree. Loved to climb back in those days!

Lavoir, somewhere in France. Everyone knows that Europe has charming villages and old churches, castles, and cathedrals, as well as some other grandiose sights. Sometimes, however, pictures of smaller things like this (a lavoir, which is kind of an outdoors communal waterhole, where people would get their water and/or wash their clothing) also have considerable charm. Again, though, not entirely sure where this one was located. Maybe Leffond?

Leffond:

The Gaulois were brothers who were friends of the family, and who owned a local restaurant either in or very near Leffond.

My uncle would host these large parties, which were more or less outdoor barbecues, often with fireworks at night. They would roast a pig or lamb, I think. There would be a large campfire. These are some pictures of the one from 1987, which I think was held on or around la fête nationale (often referred to in English as Bastille Day) on July 14th. 

My brother with my cousin, Jean-Louis. He and my uncle both were pilots at a nearby airport in Gray. The triangular structure on the table, I believe, was part of one of those planes, which were known as ULM's. 

Taverny:

A picture of my parents relaxing in my aunt's house in Taverny. 

This is an evening that I remember fairly well. My cousin, Christian, played the guitar well, which made this evening particularly memorable. That is me, presumably looking at Christian. In the background are my father (with the mustache) and my aunt (his sister). 

My brother and I from the summer of 1987. Not sure where this is, but it appears we were riding some kind of touristy train, possibly through some gardens somewhere in France. My brother was already growing out his hair, as it looks long, although it would get a lot longer than that before too long.