The (sort of) beach

I have a feeling that one day, they won't be happy with this, but for today, it was just perfect.  The husband found a reservoir about 30 minutes away from us that doubles very nicely as a beach. The boys were more than happy with it - it has been rather aptly named the 'lake beach'.   

What was rather lovely to watch was how the place filled up with locals as the afternoon wore on, all with their picnics (and table clothes for the picnic benches), and it was somehow rather beautifully French.  We spent ages watching a French grandfather teach his two grandchildren to paddle board - from his tan, he clearly spent most of his time outside (and in rather French swimming trunks), his equally sporty wife fed him coffee from the edge of the lake.  

The boys spent AGES building sand castles. The husband finally braved the water, which turned out to be beautifully refreshing - it took him a little while to build up to it, getting an someone who grew up in Africa into anything other than overly warm water is quite a feat!