Mature Flâneur
Dolceacqua: A Lost World of Medieval Enchantment
Within those stone walls, another Italy
After two months traveling through southern France, Teresa (my beloved spouse) and I must have seen a hundred medieval villages. So much antique cute-osity: hand-crafted stone houses, windy little streets, rough-hewn stairways, time-worn statues, towering châteaus upon the hilltop, and perhaps a ruined castle fortification — the scarred remains of some duke’s vainglorious attempt at independence.
Oh, I enjoyed each and every one of these villages. But I suppose it is fair to say we had become a little bit bored with them by this point in our journey. Comparisons became inevitable: this one has too many kitschy tourist shops, that one feels Disney-fied, this one has decayed from neglect, that one is all Air B&Bs— as if we were undercover reviewers for some Best of Medieval Towns Michelin guide.
