2nd best bike ride ever

If riding the city wall in Xian was the coolest bike ride I've ever had, riding through the gardens of Versailles had to be a very close second, even in pouring rain. The palaces of Versailles were decadent, majestic and sickening. We had the pleasure of a behind the scenes tour that gave a wonderful history of the palace occupants, revolution and subsequent restoration. The Hall of mirrors where the Nazis signed treatise with the French took my breath away, and the Opera room was the first oval performance venue in France. We saw both the main palace as well as the residences of Marie Antoinette. While she may not have actually said the words, "let them eat cake" her decadence spoke volumes. Apparently she even had the sheep dyed to match her outfits when she went for walks. I was glad for a chance to ride the train out of Paris to experience the French countryside. If I were to live in France, I would live rural and visit the big city on the weekends. I am amazed at how many children there are in the city.
It was just Becky and I on our own today and we had a couple of mishaps on the train and subway ie I almost lost my leg in a door, a lovely French woman had to cue us to exit the train and the wind caught a door, slammed it and made us look really silly at the palace of Versailles. Other than that we did pretty good. We noticed today that Americans are loud, exuberant and the most happy people around. We did experience the French snub when we tried to ask for help, but didn't take it personally.
When we got home we picked up more lovely bread and chicken and pastries and set up dinner. While we waited for Ann and Stephanie to get home, I went for a run along the Seine and visited the muse du quai Branly. It was art from all around Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas. One special exhibit was a kind of history of hair. My other favorite thing was a river of words "running" down the spiral walkway. It looked just like running water from far away, but up close were words from all kinds of languages.
I have had my first taste of macarones and there is no going back--they were so yummy. Today was a day of extreme gratitude and learning.

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