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Hound Dog

Apr 13, 2009, 5:12 PM

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On Life and Wealth

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We areoff to France for a couple of months or so and so none of you, including those who will welcome that fact because they have informed me I am nauseating, will be hearing from me until about August if at all but before I goI have to make one last post regarding our recent trip up the Oaxaca Coast from Chiapas through Oaxaca City and on through DF to Lake Chapala.

What a splendid trip and I would like to say more about that but I lack the time or, frankly, the inclination as I have been the recipient of kindly fatherly reprimand for my display of inconvenient directness and perhaps rightly so so here is an observation that I will leave the readers with for a while until I return from France with my beloved other half.

We drove up the Chiapas and Oaxaca Coasts until Puerto Angel and then inland to Oaxaca City and Teotitlan del Valle and there we stayed for about a week in the home of friends and therein lies the story.

I swear to God that this house we stayed in, which was the home of our host´s mother, is huge and both of our homes in Ajijic and San Cristóbal de Las Casas which are large homes in their own right, would fit in the open air courtyard of this rudimentary house of elementary construction but about as nice a place as I have ever laid eyes upon and sitting square in the nicest part of Teotitlan which has a high mountain climate at 5,000 feet that God himself would die over and the weather was supurb and the sun intense and the air as clean and pure and free of pollution as one could imagine and because land and housing is distributed according to need and productive use in this basically traditional indigenous village you don´t need money to livet there in splendor and in my 67 years I have never been treated with more pleasant hospitality than I was in this place and I ate and drank like a king and I wish to God my relatives in the confines of my home town in Alabama could live to see what true wealth is all about and it sure as hell is not about air conditioning and home theaters and blues clubs in Downtown Birmingham or Memphis or Ruths Chris Steak Houses or skiing on the Black Warrior River and barbeque sammitches and Pabst Blue Ribbon and foie gras and fine Bordeaux and riding on the TGV and looking out at Manhattan and walking down the Champs Elysees or farting in your chaise long on Bon Secour Bay while sipping a cold brew and you get my drift.

What a fine place. I left there feeling like the Earl of Teotitlan when in fact I was simply the Duke of Ajijic.

Damn!

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Apr 13, 2009, 5:21 PM)

belgique

Apr 14, 2009, 5:28 AM

Post #2 of 4 (1874 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] On Life and Wealth

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Re: none of you, including those who will welcome that fact because they have informed me I am nauseating, will be hearing from me until about August if at all but before I goI

Why? Don't Frogs have internet? The Belgians do :-). Sorry Dog, just had to say that after our great exchange yesterday. Brides folks now reside in Antibbes, to get away from the Brussels rain.

Re the rest of your post, when you and I were growing up (I also am 67), our Mommas would have referred to it as evidence of Old Money vs New. Bon Voyage.

Hound Dog

Apr 14, 2009, 12:08 PM

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Re: [belgique] On Life and Wealth

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Well Belgique:

We´re not leaving for a while longer and I can´t add Antibbes to my list but I´ll be down the road in funky Marseilles enjoying (in my opinion) some of the best bouillabaisse and Bouride on the planet on the malecón south of the old port at the old style Restaurant Michele - an institution in Marseilles. Even back in the 1980s they charged the equivalent of $100USD for just the bouillabaisse but it was worth it and whatever they charge will be worth it today.After all, this is a once in a decade experience.

My wife had an aunt who lived in the once pleasant Marseilles suburb of La Rose but the town had been turned into a ghetto with public housing after the "blackfoot" were expelled from Algeria. We took her to Michele and she was beside herself but she has since died so I guess we won´t be repeating that scene.

It´s not that the Frogs don´t have both television and the internet it´s just that it is considered untoward to get really comfortable with those seemingly useless pastimes and that is why the very straightlaced French (in a way) have such uncomfortable furniture. It´s just not right in that culture to be too comfortable with where you are sitting unless you are eating and drinking for hours on end and arguing vociferably with Uncle Jacques who is a fascist and used to serve in the French Foreign Legion where he was drinking way too much and leading a debased sexual life with Cameroon ladies of the night and feeding French secrets to the British co-rulers of that region.

The French (and Italians) adore Chiapas by the way in general but show little if any interest in Jalisco. Too bad it´s so hard to find great Belgian beer down there although I have spotted same in a couple of fine liquort stores in Guadalajara.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Apr 14, 2009, 12:12 PM)

belgique

Apr 15, 2009, 2:17 PM

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Re: [Hound Dog] On Life and Wealth

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Monsieur Hound: you sure have a way with words. Bride's family has a rich friend in Cannes that delights in taking us to one of those places on the Cannes beach where you lounge away trying to avoid noticing the pulchritude from behind your Foster Grants and in fear of slightly moving your hand because it results in a waiter suddenly appearing with an adult beverage just like the last one you ordered. Then at about 1300 your table awaits in a huge tent like thing where an incredible meal is enjoyed. Then, it's back to the lounger, the adult beverage waiter, and the Foster Grants.

Loved you description of the furniture and ambiance. I have that T-Shirt.

BTW, the sites you mentioned on 150 did look inviting. Next trip we'll explore them...it was a bit foggy yesterday. We're now on Isla Aguada in the RV park. Fantastic. This also puts us back on topic for Mexconnect. Bon Voyage!