A Bad Day

Today should not have been a bad day - as with most bad days it was only bad due to a very small event occuring at then end but currently in center stage of my memory banks so because of that I will tell you about the last three wonderful days - this serves a dual purpose - to make me feel better and to kill you with suspense - DO NOT SKIP AHEAD.

I spent the last days in Paris seeing Versailles - which was just wonderful - it is large and ornate and the gardens and fountains and the little hamlet are just a treasure. Eden would love to get left behind in the little village put there for Marie Antoinette like the family who are the caretakers - they have two little girls who live their lives in another time in the Hamlet of the Queen - I was so surprised that this little (10 buildings and 100 hectares) place that time forgot was not destroyed during the revolution but perhaps even their hearts were touched. Or perhaps the Rockerfeller who paid millions to restore this estate of the Queen at Versailles cleaned up this spot as well.

My to-do list told me that the Musee D'Orsay was next - lists are great things. This particular list should have reminded me to take my camera - I mean, WHY am I here if not to take close to 1000 photos so I can relive this experience as I choose which memories to post and which to delete after I get home. I am really looking forward to that.

In just 4 days we leave to come home - it is going so fast. Yesterday we went for a beautiful bikeride through the countryside to a place where we hiked to a cave that Nathan's little brother Louis tells me is painted by cavemen and indeed there are drawings of bison - decidedly 20th century but I am not about to burst bubbles. It is beautiful here and all the trees are in bloom and the land is lush and green except where fileds of canola shine yellow like a crayola crayon. The flower beds have been planted for a few weeks and are quite filled in like a midsummer garden. So that is excercise session number 2 for me Mona - I will need you to crack the whip when I am back!

Today Logan wanted to show me Dijon and all the places that he visited whie not in school on the weekdays. Dijon is picturesque with many old buldings and tudor wood fronts. I saw some single dwellings - never seen in Paris - if you live there it is in an apartment - complete with ivy and rioting gardens, stone fronts and alot of wrought iron. I walked the streets and picked homes for myself and my family. Mom and dad got the street level farmhouse with the large garden and tool shed equipped with satellite dish - a man's escape complete with mercedes. Mona has the 2nd floor terrace apartment with thriving vegetable beds and herb pots 2 blocks from the lake with a dog-walking park. If she moved to France she could teach the populace to clean up after their dogs - all baggie stations are full of supplies and the sidewalks full of shat - a french tragedy to be sure. Its not only cheese that perfumes the air to make that funky french aroma! There is the delightful townhouse next to the elementary school and across from the most beautiful park for Chris and Julie - with a large French kitchen already finished (good luck with your renos). And the ivy covered 2 story 1 block from downtown for me - xenoscaped of course.

It was a hot day today with temperatures in the 20s. With time moving so fast I feel like all my moents are stolen and I must hold onto them tightly and enjoy so the last hour in Dijon was spent in the beautiful park, watching babies toddle and be wheeled by, lovers holding hands and runners starting their workouts. It was so perfect that, while Logan dozed, I snapped the last shot of the day - something I now sincerely regret. To find out why, string together all the italicized words and you will know why I feel sad tonight.

I really miss home today and will see you soon.

Kim/Mom