feldmanlarry

On this day, I was imagining Marc as the seigneur or lord of the region. We had a little surprise at the beginning of the day.. Marc met up with what he called a “stoner” called William. It really tested my French to keep up with him. He was convinced a helicopter followed him one day. His pose below is imitating a satellite dish. He was just walking around this village where Marc lived now of 4 houses. What he was doing here is a good question. He was carrying around a small cart with who knows what, maybe marijuana that he was collecting from nearby plants? He was a very educated stoner. His conversation was filled with Rousseau and Moliere and stuff I couldn’t keep track of.

We had lunch in a restaurant in a nearby village that was mostly all local food (not the kiwi or oranges though). Lots of cured ham and pate. Here’s the creme brûlée and of course the cheese.

A company that makes wood pallets asked to buy the rights to cut down some trees for timber. Here is Marc going through maps with people from the company to make sure they stay on his land.

Another task of a “seigneur” is to check up on his many animal traps.

The wine collection was bigger than the gun collection but not by that much.

He cleaned out the exit grate on one of the ponds he owns.

We talked through some of his lands and adjoining ones, talking to several people along the way.

A “celibitaire” asked us to join him for a bottle of Alsatian white wine and I couldn’t say no. He had an ancient farmhouse and had lived by himself since his mother died. He was a great guy, full of stories and questions about the US political system. I was the first American he had met. A British couple bought a nearby farmhouse and he had met Dutch people before but never an American. Most of the people I talked with while walking around today seemed amazed to find an American in their midst.

Marc and I were paired up in 1966 to be “brothers” and enjoy shared interests together. His interests are fishing, hunting, walking in the woods, and working to maintain his lands. My main interests do not overlap his at all. We are totally different people. But this was a wonderful day. I got a chance to see something that not many Americans get to see — a French seigneur overseeing his lands. I wouldn’t want to trade places with him but I totally respect and appreciate his life. He’s living his dream. Not many people can say that.