lemonade picture no. 4

I could probably keep showing you lemonade pictures for the rest of the year,
but I'll try to restrain myself and just give you two more.

This is the hotel that we stayed in the first night we were in France with Kent's parents and Sam and Heidi.

Doesn't it look like something out of a fairy tale?

This hotel was in Castlenaudary, my favorite of all the towns we visited as we traveled down the Midi Canal.

But the more important reason I love this picture is because of the night we had in this hotel.
I don't know if it was because of the multiple red-eye flights we had traveled the day before, or because of the quaint beauty of Castlenaudary, or if it was because the bed in that hotel room--although the room was rather sparse--the bed was the perfect level of softness, or maybe it was the delicious meal we had for dinner the night before....
I don't know what it was exactly,
but the night we spent in this hotel was the best sleep we've ever had.

We woke up slowly, softly. The gentle sunlight sifted through the partially open window blinds. We could hear little birds quietly chattering on the sycamore trees outside. Old men from the village walked slowly alongside the canal bank below our window, murmuring softly in French. The air smelled clean, like growing things and dewy ground, with a hint of fresh-baked bread from the nearby bakery.

I have never felt so rested, so completely relaxed and yet so energized.

We still talk about it.
"Remember that one night in Castlenaudary? Remember how great it was to wake up that morning?"
Especially now that we're parents, we crave another night like that one.