And what tradesman's or farmer's day would not be improved through being accompanied by their very own marching band?

I would have said this allegedly ONE of his inspirations for the castle. Interestingly, the Wikipedia article lists 13 different castles and chateaus that inspired him, including Neuschwannstein - but not this one. There are several references citing this, although interestingly several are real estate agencies, since the castle is for sale.

Our tour in Occitanie in 2007: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/2007france/

That spring countryside is just stunning! I think that wind is always blowing there. When we were there, fortunately we were traveling in the other direction.

I always thought Schloss Neuschwannstein was the primary inspiration for Cinderella’s castle? I think it was inspired partly by some other chateau, but I don’t think this was one of them?

Good research there, Scott. Something I usually don't get around to when on the road. I guess that canal must have been important for the development of the region.

Yes! No problem. She found a good spot, crossed safely, and kept her feet dry. Rocky the Explorer!

Thanks for pointing this out, Bob. I should have taken a longer look myself but we were distracted by our rush to get seated for lunch. I’ll add a desription.

Interesting monument. At first I assumed it was to the heroes of WWI, but then I noticed the date of 1861. A little early for the second Franco-Mexican War unless they left then. Any idea why the names listed are being honored?

I assume Rachael made it back but without a detour?

Thanks, Angela. We’re happy to be adventuring again too, of course. We had great fun hopping around with our bikes and the Raven over the winter, but it can’t compare to an experience like this.

And I love this version of the song also. We were lucky to get to hear Cyrille perform at a small venue in Portland about 15 years ago, and if I’m remembering correctly this was one of the numbers she performed.

Happy you’re are adventuring again and we get to follow along. So enjoyed the video today, lovely ride and beautiful version of ‘La Vie en Rose’

Oh, common names. Had a lesson on that the other day. We were talking to a taxonomist (as one does) at our local tidepools about “call it a sea star because a star fish is not a fish.” She said that it’s true it’s not a fish, but then again it’s not a star. So no need to correct people. And thus the pedant in me has to stand down. And thus I won’t worry about calling buzzards “hawks.” Too much.

An astute observation. I’ve known these were all buteos for a long time, I’d have a hard time retraining my 75 year old brain to start referring to red-tailed buzzards, or rough-legged buteos, or what have you.

And those of us north of the Rio Grande will probably finally use buzzard instead of hawk when we change our units of measure from imperial to metric.