Virginia Is a Beautiful State

Day four of our vacation was a travel day, from Alexandria to Charlottesville. It took us about three hours, including a Starbucks stop. The countryside I find most beautiful is green rolling hills, and today not only did I enjoy this scenery a lot, but I also learned the French word for it: le bocage. Just a short part of our drive was interstate highway, with the rest being two-lane roads winding through le bocage. We passed fields with Civil War canons and many historical markers, Such and Such Battlefield, Lee's Headquarters, Jackson's Amputation. Oddly, shortly thereafter was a modern sign for WarPlay PaintBall. (Somehow, warplay and amputation do not compute.)

Charlottesville has an old historic section, a pedestrianized lane of funky bistros and artsy shops, which we liked. We got there on a free trolley with the friendliest passengers and drivers in the world. Everyone seems to know each other, or if they don't already know each other, they talk with each other anyway. Almost everyone hollered "Thank you!" to the trolley driver when exiting the bus. I've also noticed many gentlemanly acts of courtesy toward us on this trip.

Photos are of a fiddler hula hooping and Francoise sitting on a mosaic couch.