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LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE - Here's a bridge Steve took a liking to (we call this attraction to large or old buildings his "edifice complex") outside the town of Chateauneuf while we were driving around searching for open chateaux. Those are zillion year old stone supports converted into a modern suspension bridge. Notice how the water is spreading out over the banks of the river. And here we were worried about "fludding" (as one precariously translated Italian website put it) in Venice. ("Don't warry!" the site continued cheerfully, before someone corrected it.)
Venice has seasonal high tides known as acqua alta ("high water") between November and April that periodically
flood the lowest parts of the city with up to three feet of water. In some of the streets and piazzas we saw odd low tables
set out, but never anyone using them - we found out later, when we saw pictures, that they're not tables but portable walkways
which the locals use to get around when the streets are flooded. We didn't have any problems while we were there, but on the
vaporetto ride out of town, we could see the Grand Canal lapping at the doorsteps of the waterfront houses.
For more information on the acqua alta, see this site. It's in Italian, but there are some great photos.
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