Chapter 10: Napoleon on a White Horse

Popeye Spinach, forgotten painkillers, Barack Obama, kayaking from Tahiti with coconut leaves, Charlie Brown's parents, a friend that sighs in falsetto, and a footnote confession [1]

By car it takes four hours to reach Toulouse from our home in Rognes. It’s a distance of almost 250 miles. At the steady rate I am headed west, Toulouse is the last legitimate destination for a rendezvous with the family. After that, it’s too far for Melanie and the children to reach me for a weekend.

I’ve passed on scheduling visits earlier because I w…