Board-O
Today for the first time since we moved here, we ventured into the center of our nearest city, to do some shopping, and just generally to check out the vibe.
Bordeaux presents a magnificent facade. Its center, all in golden-colored stone and french classical balconies and details, ranges along the riverfront so as to really grab your eye when approaching it across the big stone bridge.
And we liked it alot. It seemed at once very friendly, and also very cosmopolitan, lots of different kinds of people walking in all different directions. And it all seemed very clean. Of course we were in the center and therefore didn't see any less-privileged part of town, but it certainly felt like a rich city, full of action and commerce.
Nice windows. Lots and lots and lots of very nice windows. Clothes and books and electronics and chocolate and furniture and toys and food and every major brand name you know. We checked out several streets, but didn't even finish walking the length of rue Sainte-Catherine, which is apparently the longest shopping street in Europe. I believe it. A dazzling array.
What I haven't mentioned is that amid the money and commerce, the fashion and the food, nearly all of the streets we were walking on today are completely pedestrianized, except perhaps for the electric trams which whoosh their way quietly along. But the carlessness of it was very refreshing. A city for people.
It did give me a twinge, I must say. I love cities. Bigger the better. I never thought I'd be living in the countryside. Obviously, Bordeaux is certainly nearby when I need it, but I do miss the immediacy of everything-on-your-doorstep, the energy of the streets, the polyethnicity, the crossroads of the world. I know why I'm living in Montcaret, and I know that it's better. A village school, and alot of green land for Kepler to play in, enough space to relax a little, and the city nearby for anytime I feel like it. But it was a bit funny, suddenly spending so much time out of the city, and then visiting one and noticing the differences.
Anyway, it was a really nice day out, and when we'd gotten back to the Orbit of Mars to eat dinner on our verandah and watch the sunset light hitting the autumnally-colored vineyards, it felt very good to be home.