Portrait by Decaisne
In the fall of 1816, in need of some peace and quiet, Lamartine spent some time at the spa of Aix-les-Bains where he met the wife of a well-known physicist, Julie Charles, who suffered from tuberculosis. Their platonic love developed on the shores of the lake of Bourget. During the winter of 1817, they met in Paris and each promised to return to Aix-les-Bains the following summer. Lamartine, much to his sorrow, was the only one to make it, Julie’s illness being too far advanced. Julie Charles died in Paris in December, 1817. In 1820, the poem «Le lac» was published in a volume of poetry entitled Les meditations.
