Packaging Dreams- the book that I essentially call Work-in-Progress.
Maybe I will finish it. Someday.
Bloise, France
Saturday
We have shunned express highways for state highways, windy one lane roads that promise stretches of pristine verdure and placid canals, sheep and herds of the like grazing naively oblivious to the speeding cars, and little cottages with smoke billowing out of the chimney, making my stomach growl with hunger as my mind conjures up images of crepes and broths. Our destination is Amboise. An hour or so from Bloise. The map is our aid, Samarth our messiah, and me -just the usual driver. Smriti offers a cookie which I graciously accept; Ankur offers driving advice, which I petulantly ignore.
After some polemical crossings and turns we finally arrive in Amboise. It is the city that houses Clos Luce Manor, where Leonardo Da Vinci lived in his final days.
The city is small even by my standards ( people call me a midget sometimes) yet its abuzz with activity. The ‘Amboise on ice’ skating rink is a blur of colour and music. The cafes spill out on the road, people sit outside enjoying the overcast skies. As we make out way down the winding cobbled path in search for the Manor, the town strikes me as surreal, something straight out of a song in which a princess finds her prince, and they live happily in the their Chateau and take leisurely strolls in the town, stop in a Chocolaterie and indulge in some Rum flavored delicacies.
We manage to find out way to the Clos Luc Manor with some difficulty, the landscape comprises of wet grass, tall trees, swings, and replicas of Lenoardo Da Vincis inventions. There are radical water pumps, tanks, boats among other things, we let loose like children and prance around from one attraction to the other, climbing onto makeshift bridges, exploring contraptions with a curiosity that would have humbled George. The Manor is up ahead, we buy tickets and move on inside to get a glimpse of Da Vincis home. There are more models of his inventions constructed by IBM. There is the tank, the paddle boat and the swing bridge. So ingenuously designed. It is really awe-inspiring to be a part of this experience, to actually be at the very place where the man who painted the ever famous ‘La Gioconda’ breathed his last breath. History is made every minute, as I step down the stairs, observing the Manor, what it offers, the models, the rooms, I realize, with every new person who steps in, the history of the manor changes, the history of that individual changes.
Love it :)
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