Day 5 – There at his birth (place), there at his death (place) . . .

Now you see him, now you don’t. Here today, gone tomorrow. Transient as life is, for some who have walked planet earth, the legacy of their short existence can have a lasting impact and be an inspiration for centuries onwards.

Legends enhance. Create gods from little. Historians and writers throughout time conjure colourful imagery. Skillfully compose characters, often from conflicting sources. Yet for those truly all-time-greats, their works reveal their true brilliance. Attesting to the genius resting within.

It’s day two of our two-nighter on Camping Le Moulin Fort. We’re just around the corner from yesterday’s Chateau Chenonceau and a short 14k Scoot from Château du Clos Lucé – home to Leonardo da Vinci during his last three years of life.

Scoot gets woken from his cozy under-our-bed shelter. Slips down and out into another bright warm morning. Readies himself for a shorts and t-shirt recce. Us not him.

Not unlike many skilled artists of his time, L-d-V tended to wander at the invite of a generous rich patron, or two. Follow the money, so to speak. King Francis I in this instance. Rent free with a yearly allowance of one thousand crowns. Not bad for a pensioner! How else was he to live?

Each room allows us to imagine the great man’s presence. Some of his ‘basic’ tools on display, heighten and demonstrate his ability of being able to think outside the box with little at his disposal apart from his genius brain. A number of his paint brushes look to have been codged together using clippings from his beard and tied to a stick with a strip of cloth. Perhaps giving reason to his enigmatic style. As a man of multiple talents – mathematician, artist, sculptor, architect, inventor, engineer . . . he was most likely in a constant mind-set of “what if?” Some of his note books are on display. Even for a fluent Italian speaker, his jottings would seem to be all in gibberish. That is, until you held them up to a mirror!

In Autumn 2017 we had the privilege of visiting L-d-V’s place of birth in Vinci, Tuscany. Spending three memorable hours marvelling at his working inventions.

[The answer . . .

Incredible as it may seem, every one of those photographs from yesterday’s post was taken in a different region of France.]