Memories of Claremont in Clermont

While studying abroad in France, emailing my mum about plans for my return, I suggested we should perhaps have a family picnic. She answered that she was thinking the same thing. Not so strange, granted. For some reason, I recalled a photo of myself as a little boy wearing my granddad’s shoes at a picnic and casually asked where it was taken. It was at this point that things took a turn for the truly surreal. Claremont lake, she replied, as I sat in a university residence in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Somewhat shocked, I looked up pictures of Claremont lake in Surrey. Since I can remember, I have always been able to recall a scene which I was never sure was reality, dream, or some mixture of the two. It was a beautiful place, the epitome of serenity; it was my haven. And sure enough, there it was on my laptop screen, the exact scene from my memories, just as perfect in reality as I’d always imagined. As I scrolled through the photo collection found from my search, there he was, my granddad, in the same park, only in the present day. Unbelievably, the photo collection belonged to my mum’s cousin. A few more clicks, and there I was, looking back at me: myself, over 20 years ago.