I am back again, after spending time away in France.<\/p>\n
The Loire, with all its magnificent ch\u00e2teaux, left me breathless.<\/p>\n
There I sat, on a sun-drenched terrace, sipping from a glass of dry white wine.<\/p>\n
I followed in the footsteps of Marcel Proust, first in Illiers-Combray and then in the enchanting seaside town of Cabourg.<\/p>\n
And then there was that encounter with the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci in the spellbinding Amboise.<\/p>\n
It was one of the happiest moments I could imagine\u2014and I say this without even counting the enchantment of opera or the deep satisfaction of a good book.<\/p>\n
My holiday, my August, inspired me to write the following poem…<\/p>\n
What Is Happiness?<\/strong><\/p>\n To raise the glass in a splendid setting The workings of centuries that in layers Behind us the remnants of dreams Before us straight lines are drawn through the green After so many cathedrals, cheeses and ch\u00e2teaux
A ch\u00e2teau at our backs, a park unfurling
A sparkle mirrors the carafe
In bulbous form of all-seeing eye.<\/p>\n
From chiseled ages have welled up
Like breaking waves that ride over one another
Washing upon the thirsty gravel of the now<\/p>\n
And prospects that themselves have vanished
Whose traces now worn into stone
Though weathered still stand carved<\/p>\n
The avenues where once nobility was seen
There are birds in attendance. Children and bicycles
The power of memory in chilled glasses, <\/p>\n
The dry Loire wine is crisp, frivolous and fruity.<\/p>\n