#138 | Travel when you can travel
“Live, don't know how long, And die, don't know when; Must go, don't know where; I am astonished I am so cheerful.”
― Patrick Leigh Fermor
“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”
― Mary Oliver
I’ve just been with my ninety-ish-year-old grandparents as they prepare the week’s pill box. With the daily blank-amine, blank-amol every second morning and the blank-amoxin, for when there’s a full moon or after a frost, managing the old age’s gifts is not easy.
From their near-centenarian perspective, how do we live fully and with as few regrets as possible?
Granny says, “Travel when you can travel” — see as much as you can.
Travel gives us perspective. It wakes us up.
Two drunk gentlemen waited impatiently by a bus stop late in the evening. After a couple of hours, they slowly realised they had missed the last bus.
Across the road was the bus depot. Seeing several buses parked, they decided to borrow one and drive themselves. As they searched the depot, disappointment set in.
“Can you believe it?!” Said one, “A hundred busses and not a single number 36!”.
“Never mind,” said the other, “let’s take a 22 up to the last stop and walk the last two miles home.”
Very often, our minds are our cages. Setting foot in a new culture can oil the hinges and getting our passport stamped opens the door.
My week in books
Talleyrand: A biography by J.F. Bernard. Talleyrand was an institution. He deposed the Bourbons (Louis XVII), who was illiberal and ineffective, and recruited Bonaparte to lead France. Soon after, he fell out with Napoleon, who became autocratic.
Following the Emperor’s infamous retreat from Moscow, and the Allies’ invasion of Paris (led by Alexander of Russia), Talleyrand worked with the allies to unseat Napoleon and exile him to Elba. Talleyrand courted and restored the House of Bourbons and welcomed the new king Louis XVIII.
But just ten months later, Napoleon escaped and raised an army on his return. The Emperor went on the offensive: The King fled, and Napoleon became Emperor for the famous Hundred Days. Ninety-four days later, Napoleon’s army fell by Wellington’s sword at Waterloo. Finally, Talleyrand worked with the Allies to reinstate the House of Bourbon and exile Napoleon to St Helena.
He once said:
The art of statesmanship is to foresee the inevitable and to expedite its occurrence.
During this busy chapter in European history, Talleyrand worked tirelessly for almost anyone who governed France. He is a fascinating character, and this biography was terrific. Recommended.
Live well,
Hector
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