This weekend I'm driving down to Maryland to visit some friends and do some fun stuff around the area. I'll have about a week there so hopefully I'll have a ton of great pictures and maybe some stories to share when I get back. Have a great weekend!
And if you have any road trip advice/stories, I'd love to hear them.
There is a town in the southeastern department of Lot in France called Cahors. It is well-known for its deep, dark Malbec wines, but that will have to be another post. Today we’re going to visit its famous bridge, Pont Valentré. It took 70 years to build Pont Valentré. Construction began in June 1308 and was finally finished in 1378. The lengthy construction phase might just seem like a dry factoid, but it is integral to what makes the bridge special.
Pont Valentre, Cahors
Pont Valentré is one of about many Devil's Bridges in Europe.
As the legend goes, the master builder was so frustrated with the slow work that he made a pact with the Devil to help speed its completion. In trade for his help, the Devil could take the first soul that crossed the completed bridge.
When it came time to place the final stones, the master builder told the Devil that he would make good on his pact if the Devil brought him water to mix the last of the mortar. The catch? He had to bring it in a vessel of the builder's choice. The devil agreed.
The master builder chose a sieve. Checkmate!
The Devil was so angry at being defeated by the builder that he broke off a stone from the bridge each night, forcing them to replace it each morning.
When architect Paul Gout restored the bridge in 1879, he put a small devil sculpture on one of the towers as an homage to the legend. You can find it in the upper right corner of this tower.
The bridge is beautiful and is definitely worth a stroll if you are ever in Cahors (which I recommend.)
The devil legend only adds to its allure.
I had the chance to go to the Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace in Florence with my mom one year. My dad and his friend wanted to go to see David at the Accademia, but since we had been before, it was time for something new. Early one morning, we woke up and crossed the Ponte Vecchio, heading to the south side of the River Arno, toward the Pitti Palace. It was late summer. The days had been hot, but we were early enough enjoy the cool stillness of the morning.
After a lovely walk, we got to the palace and did a quick tour of the Costume Gallery inside and then walked out to the gardens.
The Pitti Palace takes its name from its first owner, a Florentine banker named Luca Pitti. Pitti built the original residence in 1458. The Medicis bought it in 1549 and expanded it, making it the residence for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Cosimo I de' Medici's wife, Eleonora di Toledo originally employed landscape architect Niccolò Tribolo to design the gardens, but he soon died and Bartolomeo Ammanati took over.
The thing that I loved the most about the Boboli Gardens is that they feel like a calming balance of natural and manicured. It was a relief to be able to walk aimlessly and just enjoy the space without feeling the pressing hoards of tourists that normally take over Florence in the summer. It seemed like we and just a handful of others discovered a secret.
It was fun to stumble on the really interesting variety of statues, sculptures, ponds, and fountains that are tucked away on the paths.
We were lucky and spotted this guy from afar.
Since the gardens are on a large hillside, once we got up to the top and turned around, we had a spectacular view of both Florence and the surrounding countryside.
There's also a tiny, but nice, porcelain museum at the top. But I was more enamored of the smaller garden and the amazing panorama.
How can you not love Tuscany?!
Before we left, we stopped by the uniquely beautiful Grotta di Buontalenti.
Before we left, I fell in love with this statue of what is apparently supposed to be Bacchus on a turtle. I don't know why he's on a turtle, but Bacchus partied hard so I also don't think it would be necessarily out of character for him. Cosimo I's "court dwarf" (there has to be a better way of saying that), Braccio di Bartolo, who usually went by the name Morgante, served as the model.
For more information about the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens, including up-to-date hours of operation and ticketing, please visit the official website.