Local Delights and Discoveries

For the past few days I have been suffering a psychological fear of leaving my room. Sometimes I still feel overwhelmed speaking to so many natives and being in an unfamiliar place, but I figured the best way to get over it was to shove myself out into the fray. So, yesterday I went outside to explore the touristic path that's been mapped out around La Réole.

The first stop was the church of St. Pierre up the street from where I live. Although smaller than St. André cathedral in Bordeaux, it was still a very beautiful church. I was disappointed to see that I missed a free concert put on by the church choir this past Sunday, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for another performance. Anyway, the church had several beautiful statues of saints and clergymen. One statue of Christ stood out in particular, because it was painted with a lot of bright colors. It was a very quiet church, and it would be a nice place to go pray in quiet.

Other points of discovery included the newer and old town hall buildings (some of them were destroyed during past wars), as well as the priory, the abbey, and the old fortress castle with it's three remaining towers (there used to be four...).

In the center of town there is a monument devoted to the fallen fighters of the French Resistance. It is surrounded by flowers and a nice stone bench and winding staircase.

And finally, an experience which I haven't had in a long time came along yesterday during my walk: I got hit-on big time, French style. For the uninitiated, that means I practically got chased down the street and begged to stop and talk to this guy for just a few seconds. The poor guy thought I was Moroccan, and asked me just about any question he could think of to get me to stop for a minute. Haha! Infected with swine flu, and I'm still sexy. That's quite an accomplishment.