Giverny

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, serenely and intensely and overwhelmingly. I could just bask in it without any thought of either getting satiated with it or needing to intellectualize it, the way that I can with really powerful music. It was such a surprise that a visual experience could do that. But I suppose part of that is because it wasn't just visual, it was being in the place itself with all of its sensory fullness. The smells for example--just the air, and also the individual flowers when you[1] went to smell them individually. And there were different flowers and plants in every part, so you were constantly surprised and amazed by the new colors and shapes as you moved around.

We took the train to Vernon, the closest train stop and rented bikes for the 5km to the town of Giverny. The bike ride through the small towns and countryside in the sun was great.

There was a nice small Museum of Impressionism there too. It had a bunch of Monet paintings and also other impressionist and fauvist painters, which was good because you could compare the different styles.

Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.fr/107330423802242369450/Giverny02#

[1] I think this use of "you" in place of "one" or "I" is somethign I picked up from A Moveable Feast.

10-11 Avril: Bordeaux

Bordeaux was not as much fun as it could have been, for three reasons:

(1) I didn't research ahead of time what to do, so I didn't have a plan or list at least to fall back on.

(2) I didn't really converse with anyone (as I would have if I either went with someone else or met some people there).

(3) I was too tired Saturday evening to do anything, and so I was mostly out on Sunday, when, as in Paris, most businesses are closed.

Given all that, I might have been better off staying in Paris where I could have gone to museums and bars and music and restaurants, and hung out with the French people I've met and with UofC people. But I committed a while ago to travelling as much as possible on the weekends, and I was already feeling restless last week for not having gone out of Paris last weekend, so I probably would have not been happy staying in Paris. The best thing would have been to go to Bordeaux, but co it better. But I won't say I regret going, since regret, at least in the active sense, is worse than useless.

And I did in fact have a good time. I will here try to talk about the good things of the trip. The wine was delicious and cheap. The first wine I had was 2€ or a good-size glass at the Maison du Vin Saturday afternoon. (The Maison du Vin is a wine bar mentioned both by the owner of my hotel and on the tourist map, across the street from the Center of Tourism, where they serve a variety of wines by the glass for 2 to 10€. I don't know if the locals ignore it, or if I came at a bad time, but it was mostly empty. It did have more of a museum-like (though pleasant) feel than a cafe/bar/place to hang out feel. Certainly worth going to try some wine, especially other people so you can get a few wines and taste them around. ) It was a vin rouge, AOC Bordeaux Superieur, Côtes-de-P-something. Not very complex I think, but tasted very good. A solid, rich, round flavor, not too sweet. Usually when I don't like a red wine it's because it tastes too sour or too thin, and this wine was not like that.

I bought three bottles of wine. Two at a superette Sunday evening when all the actual wine shops were closed and I was afraid of leaving Bordeaux without bringing back any wine at all. We'll see how they are. The third I bought at a stand at the "Nature et Bio" (which I think means something like organic or environmentally responsible agriculture) festival taking up a couple of streets that weekend with various vendors. I had a much better time buying this bottle, because I was able to taste a few different wines first: all Chateau Cajus a 2008 clairet, a 2007 rouge, and a 2002 rouge. I liked the reds better, and they were both very good, but I bought the 2002 because I liked it and I don't think I've ever had wine significantly aged. It's brown in color, less fruity, mellow, with more or a (dried) raisin or molasses taste. Quite good and I look forward to sharing it.

Another good thing about Bordeaux was that it is very beautiful. It helped that the weather (in Paris too) was very good this weekend, sunny and warm. The river, the Garonne, and the quaialong it are probably more beautiful than the Seine. At least beautiful in a different way such that it struck me. The river is very wide since it is opening out to flow into the Atlantic. The quai, fittingly, is also very broad, made up of a wide stone path for pedestrians, bikes, and skates closest to the water, and then several lanes of grass, orderly rectangular flower beds, straight paths, and fountains. Since all the buildings are quite far from the bank, you can see very far up the river in both directions. The Pont Pierre bridge is long and fairly low, crossing the Garonne with a series of small uniform stone arches. With the very steady and strong wind blowing against the current to form stationary waves on the surface, and the sun shining down on it all, it is very expansive and colorful and beautiful.

The train ride to Bordeaux was good. I spent most of it reading and finishing Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Reading and meeting Hemingway has been pleasant and valuable and I will try to write about it elsewhere. I enjoyed knowing that I was traveling basically across the whole of France, and I enjoyed watching the country side and buildings change.