Noyers houses (6)

Yesterday was an exception. I thank you all who sent encouragement and good birthday wishes. I realize this morning that 66, now attained, feels pretty much the same as 65. Who knew?

This is not Montaigne's famous tower near Bordeaux, but one of the towers in the fortifications around the town of Noyers in Burgundy.

I don't know why I wrote what I wrote yesterday on the blog. I just woke up thinking about my life, and I sat down in front of the keyboard and started typing as soon as I had a hot cup of tea in front of me. Fact is, I've never really wanted this blog to be about me. In my mind, it's about France, and I try to keep it focused on France. I'm just a conduit.

As you might know, the Renaissance essayist from down near Bordeaux, Michel de Montaigne, said that the subject of his essays was himself and his flaws. « Ainsi, Lecteur, je suis moy-mesme la matiere de mon livre, he wrote in the preface to his Essais. ...c'est moy que je peins. Mes defauts s'y liront au vif, mes imperfections et ma forme naïfve, autant que la reverence publique me l'a permis. » You could translate that as "So, dear Reader, I am myself the subject of this book... This is my self-portrait. My flaws will be apparent, along with my imperfections and my true nature, as much as public decency allows."

Well, I don't feel that way about this blog. My subject is not me — at least not directly or primarily. My subject is France and life here. Montaigne's real subject was not what he said it was, either. He was being slightly disingenuous. I suppose we all are, and some more than others.

The photos here are of a couple of other buildings in Noyers-sur-Serein, in Burgundy. I'm coming to the end of my Burgundy cycle. And I'll be leaving Saint-Aignan on Sunday to go spend a couple of weeks in North Carolina. I'll start blogging from there next week.