TCOL: Chapter 3 Adventures in Strange Lands

[Marie]

Discuss thoughts with Chapter 3

[Marie]

I am not liking this version of Eleanor very much, especially when we get to Antioch. I wish Plaidy attempted to make Eleanor less haughty & self righteous I suppose.

[MaryKatherine]

So far, Eleanor seems to me to be more like a spoiled child than anything else. I like her sense of independence, but everything else about her personality strikes me as slightly annoying.

[Marie]

Finished this chapter. The Crusades must have been a great hardship, & the fact she left Marie behind always seemed like a tragedy as she was not close to Marie ever. And the whole affair.. The eunuch.. & finally the pope putting them to bed with a blessing; whatever was Eleanor feeling except despair?! She never seemed to have an easy life, even though as Duchess of Aquitaine she always expected it. How trapped & lonely she must have felt. Looking forward to the next chapter!

[MaryKatherine]

I found it incredibly sad that Eleanor left her daughter, her first child!, behind to go on Crusade. I'm not even sure how old Marie is supposed to be at this juncture, but I'm assuming she's very young. It seems like luck, and God, was not in their side during their journey. Poor Louis and Eleanor. They're both obviously not suited to each other and they're both just trying to live the way they believe they should live.