South to the Great Smoky Mountains

September 13, 2007

I'm aiming to rendezvous with a guided group trip in the Smokies, but first I get a dose of civilization by touring Biltmore, the Gilded Age estate in Asheville. As my friend Patti says, if you've been to France and seen the real thing, you might not need to spend too much time here. But the landscape is by Olmsted, so it's fascinating to try and imagine what is natural and what he invented.