The line at the 17th Street post office yesterday afternoon stretched halfway to the door, and I wondered what it will be like as post offices close due to lack of customers.
A man came and stood behind me, wearing a badge from ARVO, the annual meeting of ophthalmologists, that identified him as being from France.
In French, I asked him where he was from. "Clermont-Ferrand," he said.
"Auvergne," I said, and he seemed surprised at my geographical literacy. There are still some advantages to being a travel writer. (The ability to impress foreigners at your local post office.) He said he'd been coming to ARVO for years, back when it was held in Sarasota. "Sarasota," he said, "that is fantastic place." A man after my own heart.
I told him that I'd been in Auvergne ten years ago, for a wedding in a small town called Yssingeaux. He said he knew it. Now it was my turn to be surprised.
