My friend Caroline and I caught the RER to Pontoise this morning.  It takes about 40 minutes and 5 euros to get to the end of the line and we jump off and ride into the countryside – into the Parc Naturel du Vexin to be exact.  It’s kind of amazing to imagine you can so quickly leave Paris behind.  We road about 64K (40 miles) past bucolic houses, lots of old churches and lavender plants full of happy bees.  Caroline, who has the endurance of a pack mule, was mostly leading the way, stopping occasionally to make sure we didn’t make a wrong turn.

I’m back, showered and sipping some cold rosé left over from yesterday’s wine tasting tour.  I had a nice couple who had read about me in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (the original article appeared in the Charlotte Observer and they brought the newsprint which was fun to see) take the tour.

And now the couch across the room is looking pretty inviting….