Deauville and Riding Bikes in Bois de Boulogne

Yesterday around five pm we went out to ride bikes in Bois de Boulogne, a very big parc on the west side of Paris. I got to ride F's bike which was very nice so I enjoyed it a lot. The girls had problems with their bikes and were pouting most of the time so we didn't stay for very long. After riding around the parc for awhile we went to sit on the biggest tree I've ever seen. It's a huge Sycamore that has four trunks. Out of one of them comes a large branch that curves to about two and a half or three feet of the ground. We sat on that for awhile drinking apple juice.

The parc is very big and has lakes, trails, camping and gardens. I think I will visiting it quite often.

This morning we got ready for a "picque-nicque" and headed out. On the way out of Paris we stopped a couple of times. A did the Paris typical sidewalk parking job that really cracked me up. Not only do they do that but they park nose to nose. Smart cars are everywhere and they are so short that sometimes instead of parallel parking they just reverse between two cars, facing the road. J, N and I waited in the car for a little while. They showed me some childrens books. I asked them some questions about words using "Qu-est-ce que ce" instead of "what is". N looked at me and said "Maman said you didn't speak french, but you know a lot." I can definitly get along with that kid. J asks me questions like "AY-lo ladee how's it's going on?" and "do you know how to say ehllo in french?" It's pretty easy to impress someone with such low expectations. I don't predict the same grace from the people in the librairie and bucherie. But I can dream, right?

So anyway, the ride out to Deauville was lovely. We saw plenty of adorable Normandie farms and lots of dairy cows. It was raining when we got there so we are our ham and (strong) cheese sandwiches in the car before venturing onto the beach. The water wasn't so bad but the air was chilly. We played in the waves for awhile before playing monkey in the middle and a shell throwing contest. The tide started to come in so we made a castle with a moat that turned into a little pond.

It was a fun day. Tomorrow I start my semi routine work, dropping kids off and picking them up, opening a bank account (without the help of A!)as well as spending the day with a non-English speaker. So it shoould be a good day.