I took the Gallier House tour last night, this is the place that Anne based the Rue Royale flat on (mostly the exterior) though it was not actually built in time for Louis and Lestat to have lived there (1860ish, so closer to when Louis and Claudia leave NOLA). The tour was neat! They had the house set up for mourning (hence the coffin in the parlor) and talked a lot about Victorian mourning practices, the enslaved people who lived in the house til 1865 and peaced out as soon as they were able, and some local history. Our tour guide was awesome, highly recommend this if you get a chance.
These weeks have been crazy busy (and it's gonna get worse 🫠 but in a good way!) but! I wanted to share some photos from my trip to Auvergne, mainly Clermont Ferrand and its surroundings.
The owner of the hotel (which btw I was the ONLY guest) asked me what on earth was I doing there, which I just said I wanted to do some hiking, I got embarrassed to admit I went because a fictional vampire made by an American author is from there.
It's a beautiful place, surrounded by a volcano chain and lots of hills. Clermont Ferrand is very small but lovely, it's one of the oldest cities in France & one of its neighbourhoods is entirely medieval, and there are a lot of castles close by, in the hills.
I can definitely see Babystat running around those hills playing with his dogs & hiding from his family. I know he ended up becoming a city person after living isolated all his life BUT knowing he grew up in the wild makes me absurdly happy (I got many news headcanons about his childhood). At least he got to reconcile with his birthplace in Blood Communion.
"And So It Goes" is Billy Joel's proudest composition.Extraordinary with Fareed Zakaria#AndSoItGoes #PianoMan #Rock #PianoRock #pianist #pop
Nov. 5, 2022: "It's very short, it's very simple, there's not a lot of accompaniment. The chords are really evocative... you hear the dissonance? There's always a little bit of a sour note in every chord. There's an unresolved... [You like the tension?] Yes, there's this tension through the whole thing. When I finished writing it I said, 'Now that's really good! That's a really good song.' 'Cos I've written some songs that aren't that good."
I love this for a lot of reasons but partly bc it's an artist reflecting on elements that make a work of art good, like a baker telling us about why they chose certain ingredients over others... it's a kind of alchemy when the components together make up something that can touch the viewer/listener in a way that nothing else can, to share and empathize about something we might all experience, a connection over time and space. As Billy Joel sings in Lullaby: Someday we'll all be gone/ But lullabies go on and on/ They never die/ That's how you and I will be
And So It Goes - Billy Joel
In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along
I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense
And every time I've held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose
But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break
And this is why my eyes are closed
It's just as well for all I've seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows
So I would choose to be with you
That's if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows
