A Day in Epiais-Rhus

July 12, 2017

Well, no news on the missing bike and two panniers! Dealing with the contractors responsible for finding and delivering them is — like anywhere — painful. Jerry's last report was "They are pending delivery," but apparently not last night! So today, we will see. We are planning to stay longer in Paris since there is no other option. On the bright side, we can do that since we did not buy return tickets!

Today I am traveling to Épiais-Rhus to visit Fanny and Loic and their son, Enael. They are developing a natural agricultural farm, which I am anxious to see and hear about. So I rose at 8:00 AM (with the help of Antoine, who was sent to retrieve me), showered, played with the children some (they were home today), and headed for Gare de Lyon at 9:40, boarding the RER Line A shortly after 10:00 for the 45-minute ride to Cergy Préfecture. Loic picked me up for the final leg!

Fanny and Loic have a wonderful house in the country with enough land surrounding it to create a micro-farm using natural farming methods to grow their crops. And wow, do they have a lot, some of which was used to make a delicious tartiflette along with a side of fresh garden lettuce and wine (of course)! Then a tour of the gardens!

And more. These are much larger to be harvested in the fall.

And lots more . . . and also trees with fruit!

And there are carrots, lettuce, and string beans in there somewhere.

But all good times must come to a close . . . until next time. Au revoir to Fanny and Loic (and Enael).

I took the train out of Pontoise to return to Paris, arriving in Gare Saint-Lazare and transferring to Metro Line 14 for the ride to Bercy. I arrived to an empty house so took advantage of the solitude to wash the bike after Monday's ride through the rain. It had accumulated a surprising amount of dirt! But it cleaned up quickly, and when Florence arrived, I was also able to get a load of laundry started. When touring light, never miss an opportunity to wash!

Then the bad news. Still no bike and no panniers! And after many phone calls. On one, when Florence tried to call on our behalf, the automated answering service hung up on us because the call wait time was 30 minutes! Florence ultimately got through to someone who said they had tried to deliver but could not "reach us," even though they had telephone numbers and an address. At this point we are resigned to the fact that we may not leave until Friday, but we agreed that if the delivery comes early enough tomorrow, we may give it a try. After all, we only need to do 40 miles or so, and it stays light until 9:00 PM or later. So doable it is!

So off to dinner with the family. Back to Chez Bruno in Bercy Village at Cour Saint-Émilion, as it has good food and is family friendly. Plus, a favorite, I think, for Florence and Pierre.

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