Bike Riding at Versailles

Here is a fact for you: Did you know that tennis was invented in France? Yes, it was. The scoring is kind of funny, isn't it? Love, love means zero zero to start. Well, that originated because in France they began the game calling out "l'oeuf, l'oeuf" which sounds like love but means egg---an egg looks like a zero. So the tennis players were really calling out zero zero. Well, tennis then came to the USA, where we did not hear "egg egg" but heard "love love" with a thick accent and it stuck. Today even the French say "love love" to begin a tennis match. Interesting, eh?

So yesterday morning we took off on the Paris metro to the Marche aux Puces, which is the most famous flea market. The first things we saw were so beautiful and colorful--bags, skirts, souvenirs, etc. for not bad prices hanging up. All the guys, mostly Africans, welcomed us into their shops, promising amazing prices. We got all excited, but Dr. Erickson told us that we were in the tourist trap section of the Flea market and to wait a little bit longer for the good stuff. After walking about 10 more minutes, we came upon a bunch of junky shops with old tools and what looked like dirty clothes in piles on the ground. He told us that that was where we could find REAL treasures. We young teachers all thought it looked like a pile of garbage--sure it was all antiques, but we didn't really know how to appreciate them. These vendors were French people and not really concerned whether or not we came into their small junk shops. One guy was smoking a pipe and blew some right into my face. I am not one for stuff like that, so we left our professor and headed back for the tourist trap. On the way, we found a nice guy who sold Nutella crepes. They were delicious. He was so friendly. He guessed we were Germans, but when we said we were Americans, he gasped. "But you guys are not fat like most Americans." It was funny how they stereotype us that way. Yes, there are more overweight people in the USA, but it shouldn't be a shock to see some normal sized Americans. He talked with us for 20 minutes about politics (favorite subject here) and movies. When we got back to the tourist trap section, we found the nicest Algerian guys who sold the three of us girls really cute tops in pink and green for only 3 Euros each. What a steal! I also bought a cute red elephant bag, but the coloring bled the rest of the day onto my white shirt. Oh well. I decided that I prefer bartering for cheap, usable stuff than digging through garbage for a treasure.

We left on the bus to spend our afternoon in Versailles. I love that place! The gardens were so beautiful and there was a musical fountain show from 3:30-5:30. They played classical music all over the enormous, manicured gardens while we watched the fountains dance in different patterns. It was very relaxing and a perfect day. Ali and I decided to rent bikes for an hour. We took them to Marie Antoinette's little village. It was so quaint with cute little houses, donkeys and chickens running around. Super cute!

This morning, we took the metro downtown to go to church. Relief society was first and very interesting. The teacher could barely speak French or English. She was all over the place in trying to teach us something. There were two Elders trying to translate the French into Chinese for a lady behind us and one sister missionary translating the meeting into French and English while the teacher tried to teach. The Asian teacher would look at a sister in the group and say, "Give your testimony!" She said that to Agnes, who didn't want to say anything. Then the teacher said, "What? You don't have a testimony?" Agnes tried to get some words out. Very different meeting. The Sunday school and sacrament meetings were a lot better. They were amazing! There were some cool single adults that we met who invited us to some activities and institute. Could be fun! We came home and made some Italian lasagna--actually, Dan made it--he served in Italy and wanted to show off his cooking skills, which was to die for!

Now we are packing and getting ready for our trip to Alsace and Lorraine. We will be on the road in cars for the next five days. We will even get to go over the border into Germany. I don't think I have ever ridden in a small car in Paris. Should be fun!