Ten Years Since

During our first day astride our gear laden bicycles in France...September 13, 2001, we sprinted from the airport under our own power and found our way into the pastoral French countryside in less than twenty minutes. The first hilltop town SE of the Chas. De Gaulle Airport featured a small contingent of greeters...what, for us? The mayor and a few of his friends were waiting for "The Americans" that were pedaling up to their town. They hugged us and gave us a flower, saying "condolences" in french. It took us awhile to figure out how the French always knew that we were Americans.   That afternoon, we had skirted around Paris and were now headed for Dijon, we did a little grocery shopping in San Souplez...Lisa wanted to be the navigator, so we gave her the map and said "Have at it". She led us into the stunning agricultural hinterlands around San Souplez. It was harvest time and the scents from the fields were intoxicating...an hour later we entered a wondrous little town that looked a lot like San Souplez...Hey, it even had the same name! Colby said, "Mom, give me the map."   The mayor of San Souplez saw our return and asked if we needed anything..."Maybe a place to camp", I tried my french here. I didn't think she understood, but a few seconds later she opened a gate behind what turned out to be her house and said "Voila". Her family brought us dessert later that evening and invited us into their house....again, they offered us condolences for the attack on America.