In August 1993 I spent a few days with some Parisian friends...

Corinne Isabelle Poncet

In August 1993 I spent a few days with some Parisian friends who, like me, are Christian Scientists. One day we decided to go to the Normandy coast, for I had never seen the white cliffs for which Etretat is famous.

On arrival we climbed up one of the beautiful cliffs and had a picnic there. The view was superb, and the weather was very hot. After relaxing in the sun for a while, we decided to go for a swim. The English Channel is never very warm, even in summer, and I don't much care for swimming, especially in cold salt water. But as all my friends were already in the water, I went in, and gradually became accustomed to the temperature.

We swam parallel to the beach. After a while I began to feel cold, and turned around. We had swum much further than I thought, and as the tide was beginning to go out, I soon found I was getting nowhere. I could no longer feel my hands or feet because of the cold, and I began to be afraid of not being able to make it back.

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