27 October 2017

Time and place

I had less severe jet lag yesterday than on Wednesday. I slept later yesterday and even later this morning. I'm coming back to life. For me, jet lag is worse coming east toward France than it is going west toward North America. It has something to do with going against the direction of the sun instead of going in the same direction as the sun. Or maybe it has to do with spending a sleepless night on an airplane coming toward France, and not just spending an extra-long day on the plane as when going toward North America.


Here's where I came from: the salt marshes of coastal Carolina. My mother lives on the edge of this one, which covers the "headwaters" of Calico Creek. It's a tidal marsh. It might look like land, but it's not really land. It's salty mud, with seashells embedded in it but no rocks. And it's covered in tough grasses.


Here's where I wound up. It's the Renaudière vineyard outside Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. This is real land. It's very dry land right now. But it will start raining soon and this will be muddy land — clay with lots of rocks embedded in it. In prehistoric times, this whole area was sea bottom, and people sometimes find fossils of mollusks among the local rocks.

11 comments:

  1. Both places are beautiful! My comment is early because I'm in your time zone. :)

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    1. If you're in France, enjoy. Or wherever you are, enjoy!

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  2. I used to think that this was the road that led you to the big road that you would drive on to head out of your neighborhood, to Saint Aignan proper. Now I know that this is where the road ends (and that what we see ahead of us is just the path going into the vineyards), and that the road to town is behind us here. Ha!
    Judy

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    1. Since you've been here, now you know. We can drive out down the paved road or along the gravel road that runs through the vineyard.

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  3. I agree with BettyAnn, both are beautiful. I always look forward to your NC trips and the photos of the coast. Which pulled pork won?

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    1. It was pretty much at tie. See my comment on the BBQ post.

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  4. Having grown up in North Carolina, I appreciate the beauty of the place but for some reason, my heart always beats faster for those faraway places with their own beauty ..

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  5. "For me, jet lag is worse coming east toward France than it is going west toward North America."
    It's just the opposite for me. When I go to France, I basically adjust after the first night's
    sleep. When I fly home, it takes me 1-2 weeks to fully adjust. I think it has to do with going on vacation versus ending a vacation. Of course, that doesn't apply to you.

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    1. I guess the work or vacation factor might play a role in the jet lag severity. But I don't work in France these days, and the lag is still worse for me coming back to France. Whether I'm in the U.S. or in France, I'm on vacation.

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    2. Just getting to this, today, Saturday. Your jetlag will benefit from our turning back the clocks tonight. I don't know if Tasha will understand the idea of getting up late, though.

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What's on your mind? Qu'avez-vous à me dire ?