musings from spain

            a sunset view of la dordogne river1100 kilometers of french countryside covered, a bottle of authentic bordeaux wine bought from st. emilie itself, perhaps a kilo heavier as a result of quite a bit of foie gras munching, and one medival and six renaissance castles later, i find myself in a little pension in nantes (with free internet...yay!), on the very edge of the bretagne province. it's been little french village hopping along the way, from barcelona to toulouse to bordeaux and then the loire valley region, where there is an ENDLESS number of castles in the region...you can't drive through a town without one of their own, either towering over the "normal" houses.  the french countryside has been beautiful as expected...flat vibrant fields of green, or full of wineyards, ducks, geese, sheep, and hairy cows and horses...it's all so picturesque and quaint!  so cute!  and the castles are
the castle of chenonceau on the loire riverIMPRESSIVE.  it's funny...the romantic side of me is in awe of the luxurious castles with equally luxurious gardens, many with their own forest and several of them with a private wing still being used and lived in by some lucky-blooded luxurious family, while the american, against the concept of royal or imperial priviledge side of me can't help but feel the superficialness and injustness of it all.  but i think the romantic side is winning...there's just something magical about walking through these buildings and imagining the royal feasts and parties, with ladies in waiting and dignified men (and the king, of course!), wandering around the halls in full-fledged costume.  it's just all so romantic!

ok, time to get off as we've got one adsl line and there's another laptop that's waiting for their fix of juice.   tout alors!  =)