The Neutral Zone

Bruton, UK - We spent a week wandering around (mostly) Somerset, in the UK. After hearing the details of my trip and seeing various photos, my mother told me that, "Not all of the UK is cute." To which I said and still say, "Prove it." Manors We visited several countryside manors in Somerset including Lytes Cary, Montacute Barrington Court, and Stourhead. These were the spectacular homes and gardens of Britain's aristocracy or landed gentry that were turned over to the National Trust as the wealth and power of these families diminished over the years.  Centuries ago, when the families were spending more freely on their estates, they built spectacular gardens and follies. Follies are (as my mother put it) big garden gnomes. More specifically (as Wikipedia put it), they are buildings constructed primarily for decoration, but suggest through their appearance some other purpose, or are of such extravagant appearance that they transcend the range of usual garden buil...

Day 3 in Arles We visited two modern art museums on our third day in Arles. Our first visit was to the Van Gogh Foundation. There are very few Van Gogh pieces; we may have seen two. Van Gogh, being a bit--erm, eccentric--was not much appreciated when he was here and l don't think he had a local patron that kept his art.  Anyway, the Van Gogh Foundation features primarily other artists whose connection to Van Gogh is tenuous. When we visited, they had a large exhibition of works by Nicole Eisenman, whose work often focuses on sexuality, and in particular, a lot of depictions of women giving birth - sometimes to people, sometimes to things. Next, we visited another arts foundation called Luma. The Luma's building is a remarkable structure designed by Frank Gehry. It's meant to evoke the surrounding countryside. The museum curators are quite proud of their foundation and the building. On the first floor, immediately after entering, they have a gallery room that runs a 10-minut...