Frito Pies, etc.

Spent 3 days in Santa Fe which is a beautiful city. The downtown area is done completely in the colonial adobe style. There are lots of high-end shops, but with the economy the way it is, we didn't see too many people buying things. There is a strong native American presence, & they sell their silver/turquoise jewelry, which is very well designed & made. The only thing we didn't like about Santa Fe is New Mexico cuisine. It's very heavy & not very good. Maybe if we weren't suffering from the altitude (It takes a while to adjust to 7,000 feet), we would have enjoyed the food more.

We saw the oldest church in the US, as well as a beautiful cathedral/basilica and a chapel with a "miraculous staircase (above). There is a very interesting story of how it was built; modern-day engineers & architects cannot figure out how it was made. Here is a photo of the altar in the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the US:

As we've been traveling we have noticed that small towns in the US & small towns in France have absolutely nothing in common except that they are small. Here are some things we have seen....

Frito Pies. Well, this "gourmet" treat is a small bag of Fritos, cut open & topped with chili, cheese product (we're sure it's not real cheese) & maybe onions, hot sauce, etc. You actually eat it out of the bag. We didn't have the guts (or desire) to try this New Mexico specialty.

Texans are fiercely proud of being Texans, though having driven across 600 or so miles of it, the reason is a mystery. We saw countless small towns that appeared dead. There are empty, derelict buildings and hardly any people in sight. One interesting thing was the breakfast waffles in the shape of the state of Texas. It didn't occur to us until several hours later that a photo of the Texas-shaped waffle would have been interesting to add here. Of course, it's not as interesting or newsworthy as an image of the Blessed Mother in a grilled cheese sandwich, but we were impressed.

Another difference is that the food in small towns in France is generally delicious; not so here. After spending the afternoon at Ft Worth's Kimbell Museum (see more below), we arrived in Terrell, TX. Well, there aren't too many choices for food, especially on a Sunday evening, so we opted to get takeout pizza & salad. We really didn't think it was possible for "pizza" to be that bad. Yes, the quote marks around the word pizza are intentional, because what we got was not pizza -- nor was it edible. At least it was inexpensive.

The Kimbell Museum, on the other hand is a delight. It's not a large museum, but the collection is superb. Free admission & free audio guides made it even better. They have a small collection, but what they have is choice & covers a wide range of periods & styles. They have a recently discovered first painting by the 13-year-old Michaelangelo, "The Temptation of St. Anthony." Wow!

The only downside is that much of the permanent collection has been de-installed while they prepare for an upcoming special exhibit. The food in the cafe was the best we've eaten in ages.

We finally drove all the way across Texas (saw a lot of nothing along the way) & are now in Shreveport, LA where it is hot & humid. Our hotel is also a casino & we are busily trying not to notice the people who are here to gamble; tacky doesn't even begin to describe it. Our room is pretty luxurious, has a beautiful view of the Red River, & only costs $60/night. There isn't really much to do here, so we're relaxing a bit.