lettres de mon moulin

i took a photo of this moulin rouge (red windmill not to be confused with the moulin rouge nightclub) near glanum, the site where french novelist alphonse daudet wrote his letters.  since it's nearly impossible and even unfair to you dear readers for me to post all 250 of my vacation photos or try to describe each wonderfully adventurous day in france, i shall start where my blog begins:  words.  "aha!" my mind snapped to attention, "a new author..." in all my years of french and literature studies, i'd never heard of daudet.  sure enough, his works were (in french) on library shelves in st. remy.  so when i got home i looked at my local library for english versions.  going up to the reference desk clerk, i pretended to be playing jeopardy, "hello, yes, i'd like obscure french literature for $500 please" and he was very helpful, pointing out everything from archives to out of print books and interlibrary loans to world literature digests.  what did i learn?  daudet was born in 1840 (Nimes) and died in 1897 (Paris).  during that time he wrote not only novels, but also short stories, plays, poems and stories for children.  his literature is considered within the category of "naturalism" and also contains controversial politial satire.  "tartarin de tarascon" is on its way to me in the form of book on cd.  stay tuned for more letters from my word-loving windmill...