Talk to Each Other

 Note - Always make sure you save a draft.  I had written a post that was the literary equivalent of Hemingway at his finest and didn't save it.  Well, maybe not the literary equivalent of Hemingway but it was better than most grade school essays.  Anyway, since I didn't save a draft, I lost it all and now will attempt to coax it onto the screen again.  Excuse me while I reach into the dusty cobweb filled corners of my brain.

In my last post I talked about our decision to not travel with a carved in stone itinerary however, this doesn't mean I am not planning what I would like to do and see while in Paris.  Of course, I am also trying to plan activities that Betty would enjoy as well.  And that is where the title of this post comes in.

I'm an art lover, not an afficiando mind you, I just happen to love art.  I can explain the reasons different artists attempted certain styles, more or less.  I understand art beyond the saying, "I know what I like".  Well, I do know what I like but even if I don't care for a particular style I can appreciate the talent, passion and courage it took for the artist to place his brush to canvas or chisel to stone.  That being said, I could spend my entire time in Paris wandering through the multitude of museums and galleries and never be bored.

Betty is of a different mind.

Betty likes art, she appreciates the skill required to perform in the craft however, it just isn't her thing.  Betty likes the history, not the history of who ruled what area during which time period.  She isn't concerned with Marie Antoinette or Napoleon rather, she is interested in the daily history.  Betty wants to know how they survived the times, how did they make their clothes, shoes, furniture.  The history of daily life is what fascinates her. She even goes beyond just learning about the history, she wants to learn how they did it.  Betty wanted to learn to weave, I made her a small loom, she listened to others and taught herself how to weave simple patterns.  That is her interest.

So, being the good husband that I am, I planned a three day trip to Carcassonne, France where she could walk through an actual medieval walled city.  I researched it and discovered that it wasn't just a walled city, it is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, I figure this is history Betty will LOVE!

Bzzzzzz .... wrong.

When I first told Betty about Carcassonne she was excited but the excitement quickly waned when we found out Carcassonne still has a village within its walls.  A village populated by modern people going about their normal modern daily life.  My lovely wife informed me that while she was sure Carcassonne would be worth the trip and she would find it all interesting, it wasn't what she was really looking for.  What she is looking for is an authentic medieval village populated with people living as they did during the middle ages or renaissance eras.  Practicing the crafts of then, going about the daily life as it was during that time.  So, back to the drawing board.

This all reinforces the title of this post, you have to talk to each other and plan out activities.  Not an itinerary, just a list of places and activities you would like to see and do.  If I hadn't talked to Betty I would have drug her to Carcassonne only to be disappointed.  Not in the city but in what I would have hoped would have been a fantastic day for my wife.  A day she would not have enjoyed nearly as much as I thought she would.

Bottom line, if you are planning to travel with another person, talk to them.  Otherwise, one of you will always be disappointed.