LEONARDO DA VINCI

                                              A Fascinating Man

Picturesque Amboise, France built up around a fortified chateau.  We hiked up a long steep hill to reach the manor house of Chateau du Clos Luce, built in 1471 over a 12^th century foundation. We entered the small manor house by climbing up a narrow spiral staircase in the tower. The pink brick and tufa stone bear the architectural mark of the 15^th century. The summer home of French kings for 200 years, the chateau is surrounded by acres of woodland park.  Da Vinci was free to dream and work here.

I quote from a flyer: Leonardo da Vinci’s last residence, the Château du Clos Lucé, is dedicated to conveying an overall picture of the art and the boundless vision of the Tuscan artist. From civil and military engineer to botanist, in his work as an architect and as a musician, the all-encompassing nature of Leonardo da Vinci’s intuition is brought to life before your eyes.

The interior of the manor house shows the everyday life of Leonardo da Vinci and his 40 fabulous machines. It was here at the Château du Clos Lucé that da Vinci, at the invitation of the King of France, Francis I, spent the last three years of his life. He brought his famous Mona Lisa with him. From 1516-1519 he spent time perfecting his many inventions before passing away on 2 May 1519. 

             The royal Chateau d’Amboise sits higher on a hill a few meters from the Clos Luce where da Vinci lived. The two buildings are connected by an underground passageway. There are several models of da Vinci’s inventions in the house. Except for his bedroom the house was unremarkable. He slept in a Renaissance canopy bed with maroon drapes.  It was a beautiful warm day. Once though the chateau we headed out into the woodland. 

The wellsprings of Leonardo's inspiration is punctuated by 16 giant and actionable machines, 32 transparent canvases (3 to 4 meters high) depicting the Master's sketches or details of his paintings, and 8 sound stations featuring the voice of the celebrated French actor Jean Piat.  The display of his early inventions was astonishing. We wandered and saw most of the park and arrived at the water retrieval machine just as it went into action.His inventions were numerous and displayed in a very understandable way for us with a lesser inventive and imaginative mind. I don’t even have the notes to describe many of them. There was so much to see!

When my friend tired of walking the park we returned to the manor house and sat awhile in the small garden. We babbled on excitedly about the genius of this man who generally is known for his painting. We were both stunned to learn so much about this man. It seemed, besides the large number of huge chateaux, the Loire Valley had a surprise in each one and on every country road.

A formal French garden goes back to Louis XIV.  French gardens are more sculptured than English gardens and no bush is higher than 3 ½ feet tall. Louis didn’t want anyone hiding. French gardens also have less color.

RECENT VISIT TO EMBREA

                            Civilization is Encroaching 

            I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to an Embrea village 17 years ago. The hour ride up the Sambu River through the Darien Jungle was a delight early in the morning. It was authentic.

            Progress sometimes makes me sad. I’m not sorry I made a visit to another village  recently, as it was a chance to introduce my grandchildren to an entirely different life-style. But seeing ‘civilization’ encroaching on the native tribal customs gave me pause.

          This village was easily accessible as it was located right on the river bank, close to our rainforest hotel. American capitalism had built concrete steps and iron rail from the river edge up into the village. I appreciated the easy access, but couldn’t it all have been done in a more rustic approach

to blend in with the village? And really did we need to have a toilet installed near the main structure? If a toilet was such a necessity how about a low profile chemical one. Give me a break!

New Construction

       Women now covered their torso with a beaded minimal halter top. I noted a new motor boat in the back of the village—however a native cayucu was pulled on the shore in the front of the village. A new building under construction was large, had ordinary steps and obviously lumber from the lumber store was being used. Maybe because trees are not supposed to be cut in the rainforest---I’d like to think that was the reason, but it did seem the building looked out of place with its metal instead of thatched roof!

         I would guess that fast food had entered their diet as their bodies were hardly lean. They obviously understood a good deal of English. Their handicrafts are still well made, but many tourist-type trinkets have been added, like woven bracelets available everywhere one goes.

     My daughter and I discussed these changes and I had an extensive conversation with our guide about them. If I had not made a previous trip would I have been so keen to notice the changes? Knowing me, probably, or at least questioned them. I did not mention any of the above to my 18 and 20 year old granddaughters. I did not want to spoil their excitement and adventure. 

        The small children were adorable! The girls had great fun talking to them and playing. The little ones obviously are used to interacting with visitors. I wonder when these youngsters will want to go off to a ‘better life’ and how long before the culture will just disappear. I didn’t see any cell phones, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there. Sometimes progress just makes me very sad!