Ride to Bercy

LIZSAYS: We rode along the river as far as we could but there were pretty good bike paths out to Bercy. Bercy is a kind of consumer void where they sell stuff but nothing you want to buy. On the other hand all the shops and restaurants are open on Sunday, a rarity in Paris. And, its a little village rehabbed out of an old wine warehousing operation. But sitting right next to this black hole of what to buy and why, is a nice park. It is surrounded by newish apartment buildings, neither interesting or particularly attractive from the outside, they all seem to be built to maximize the view of the park they face. The ride to Bercy was great. We passed the ‘weird green glass building that has a garden on top, then the 4 buildings that make up the National Bibliotech. They are shaped like 4 open books facing each other, or so one is told, then they see it and go, “Oooh.” The buildings are supposed to have a copy of every book published. We also passed some areas under bridges where homeless people have built little cities of very nice roundish tents. Nylon and cement, in a sort of airless outdoor space. The bike paths were fantastic, all separated from the road traffic. Then you hit the park. Lovely and modern with nods towards the waterfowl and plenty of action. It’s when we decide to eat that it all goes pear shaped. It’s like someone opened up the fake wood door and we entered some mall in a second tier town in the States. I’m outta here. But, the ride home was great!