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21 " I am used to going to and fro without much thought. Walking alone, I am used to never having a conversation about the whys, when's, and how's of getting from one side of a strett to the other.But walking in twosome is different. It seems to require an ungodly amount of conversation. Because, it seems, James (my new husband) has a strategy for crossing roads, and a need to teach it to me. I did not know that; I did not know that my street-crossing skills were so in need of improvement. "
― Vivian Swift , Le Road Trip: A Traveler's Journal of Love and France
22 " The French abhor drafts. They do not like the feel of the courant d'air , which is why they do not take it kindly when a foreigner opens a window on a train or a bus, which is probably why all the windows on the bus to Giverny were locked. Never think that, when you let in some fresh air in France, the natives won't hate you for it. "
23 " Romance is showing my new husband the places and things that mean the most to me.I can't help it if some of those places and things are in France. "
24 " There's a fortune of Authentic Vintage French Linen Tea Towels on every clothes line. These are the exact kind of linens that specialty shops in America sell for top dollar to affluent customers who pay dearly to add that touch of French Farmhouse Fabulousness to their million-dollar McMansions.Flaubert is so wrong.Even wash day in Normandy is achingly chic. "
25 " This is not my first road trip and it's not my first marriage either. I know that my hissy fit in Fougeres and our bad luck on the road to Bordeaux does not spell doom for either our love affair or our journey. Love affairs are like road trips, and road trips are like love affairs -- from beginning to end the emotions are equally intense, the phases just as predictable. Love and travel. They both have their ups and downs. "
26 " To see a tree in Winter is to see it for what it really is. A Winter tree is an object so intricate and so perplexing that if it hadn't already; been decided that Winter trees were plain and boring, we would be spending hours pondering them, staring at them in astonishment. "
― Vivian Swift , Gardens of Awe and Folly: A Traveler's Journal on the Meaning of Life and Gardening
27 " If gardens are created to tell stories, which I believe they are, then garden gates are the crucial opening lines that can make or break a tale. "
28 " In Marrakech, Arabian open-heartedness is served up with a generous dose of pan-African mysticism, a dollop of French savoir-vivre, and a garnish of Moorish grace. The vibe is irresistible to meaning-of-life seekers and international hipsters looking for a scene. "
29 " The most notable function of Japanese art is to express the melancholy of mortality and the inevitable decay of beauty, to act as the catalyst for the experience of extreme sorrow. The mindfulness is found in every aspect of Japanese culture, in pottery, pop songs, haiku, and even in the way of tea. When it comes to achieving that desired quality of existential desolation in Japanese garden, it's moss that gets the job done. "
30 " I am a connoisseur of rain (all of us introverts are). "
31 " If you happen to be a person who does not enjoy your own company, a visit to Edinburgh in January will teach you how it's done. "
32 " Most important travel tip of all time: There are no wrong trails. "