BORDEAUX

Last weekend I went to Bordeaux.  The south of France is very nice, as it seems southern regions typically are.  I arrived late from Paris, walked a bit, and retired.  In the morning, I began my day:

breakfast, writing...
city centre
beautiful fountain, homage to the Roman heritage of Bordeaux

the Garonne River, wide and reminiscent of the ol' Mississippi...

near the square where I lunched and ended up with terrible sunburn
one of the old gates of the city
the opera

On Sunday, I went to the country house of a friend.  We had a wonderful lunch and generally relaxed.  I picked these little berries, which are tart and delicious.  I forget how to spell their name...


a typical French country house
12th century church in the the village of the gite
last train back to Paris...

I very much enjoyed Bordeaux, and a rest from Paris.  Besides the wine, it is a fun city, with lots of history and culture.  Highly recommended!  

four days out

It is a very cold day here in Memphis, the gods I suppose giving me a small taste of what is to come. On Monday, I fly to Hamburg, Germany to begin work riding Jumper horses. It is pretty exciting, but also very empowering when you finally make old dreams come true. Cheesy, right? Perhaps, but to me it is just another example of the importance of imagination: once a thing has been conceived, it's not too far from being.