DG comes to Paris.... and Lyon

We are alive, we just haven't had free internet access for a while.
A few quick pictures of the past days:

Paris Plage! A few years ago, the mayor of Paris decided to bring the beach to the city. There are chairs and umbrellas and areas to work out, and playgrounds, and water fountains, and misting fountains, and...

SAND! They bring in truckloads.

RA and DG in front of Pont Alexandre III, one of my favorite bridges. I also like Pont Neuf, which means New Bridge, but is actually the oldest bridge in Paris. Hmm.

We went on a boat cruise of the Seine River, which runs through Paris, and David Graham was excited to see the police on a speedboat. He wants to be one.

He was also excited to tour the sewers of Paris... yes, the sewers... which is an actual touristic attraction for which you must pay. The tour was interesting and informative and somewhat pungent. Above is a guide teaching young French children about what happens when they flush the toilet.

DG in Pere Lachaise cemetary, the one with many famous people buried there (notably Oscar Wilde, Moliere, and Jim Morrison. Jim Morrison's grave was surrounded by young people of all different nationalities drinking beer... except that one girl was drinking wine straight from the bottle. Another girl stood there for a few minutes, then said, "I wanna smoke a joint right now." An interesting crowd, for sure.)

We went to a mass at Notre Dame. The acoustics of the music were incredible. DG took this picture inside.

A view of a street in Montmartre, in the north of the city.

We got to hang out with Frederic and his girlfriend Charlene on Sunday night and it was a lot of fun.

On Tuesday morning, we left Paris for Lyon (you see it there next to Switzerland and Italy.) We took the TGV and it was so fast and so efficient and so easy, and I am a big fan (we went up to 170 mph!) We are now traveling down the Rhone Valley, from Lyon to Marseille (on the coast.)

In Lyon, we met up with Aziz, our friend from the French Table in Auburn. He took the whole day to show us around the city and was a great tour guide. This picture is from a church at the very top of the city overlooking everything.

city view

His wife prepared this outstanding meal at their home: salmon tartare, a kind of tuna salad, and olive puree, and a salad with yellow tomatoes and tiny hard-boiled eggs! Plus some fabulous wine, an interesting kind of beer, a giant cheese plate, and fruit crumble for dessert! It was a fantastic day and such an enjoyable evening... they were so kind to welcome us!

View of Lyon by night. The Rhone and Saune rivers flow through the city.

We are now in Montelimar, a city between Lyon and Avignon, but we are about to leave, so I don't have time to post pictures from here. If our next hotel has free internet access, I'll be back....