Day 26: Greenville a Paris
With a belly-full of breakfast thanks to the Wesley United Methodist Church of Greenville, Texas, the team set off in a north-easterly direction. In past days, this direction would mean a hefty tail wind, but today 15-20 mph gusts plagued us from the north and east. Although the day was relatively short at 56 miles, wind seemed to come at us from every direction!
After 3-4 hours of hard pedaling, riders were rewarded with lunch under the Eiffel Tower of Paris, Texas. The tower is a 70 foot replica of the Tour d’Eiffel topped with a red cowboy hat and acted as the backdrop for our staged ride-by captured on tape by the local TV station. Katie and Jody were interviewed by the Parisian anchorman from Paris Local TV 99.
The First United Methodist Church of Paris fed us dinner and we have set up for the night at the Student Life Center. Although the small town had little in the way of a classic café, the center piazza boasted a beautiful fountain perfect for afternoon reading, and riders found internet and good beer at the Jaxx Burger joint.
That’s the long and short of our day to Paris. On a more important note, I wanted to say something about bagels…
There are many ways to Bagel
- the Ride for World Health Repertoire
Bagels and Cream Cheese: the classic.
Bagel P&J: inevitably your lunchtime choice when there is no bread.
A Bagel, plain, nothing else: more interesting than it sounds if you consider the many kind of bagels Einstein's gives us... cinnamon, blueberry, green chili, six cheese, spinach florentine, chocolate chip...
Bagelwich: cheese, turkey, mustard, and lettuce and tomatoes if you can find any
Toasted Bagel: a rare delicacy on this trip and one we partook in this morning thanks to the generosity and attention of the Greenville Methodist community.
Bagel Pizzas: a feat Team Strawberry undertook for a delicious dinner item.
Bagel Chips: the only way to enjoy a stale bagel, dipped in hummus, preferably.
And still to be attempted in the R4WH kitchens: Bagel Bread Pudding, Bagel Croutons, Bagel Dumplings, Bagel French toast
~ Heidi