Lyon.

Tour city. 2000 year old UNESCO world heritage site.
Basilica Norte Dame. Is a feminine church for The Virgin Mary. No marriages, baptism, funeral. Only masses.






All mosaic and gold.


Is being completely rebuild.


Tour of the city. They take ugly empty walls and put murals on them. This one has people from each century on each floor. Starting with 20th century on the first floor.



I am standing next to,the painter. Cache was pregnant 16 years ago when she painted the wall.











Only one winded is real. The rest are paintings.

Location:Quai Perrache,Lyon,France

Cluny tour of Benedictine Abbey

Build in 1400. Was the largest church until St. Peter's was build. Only 1/10 of the original church still is these. During the French Revolution it was torn down. Much of it was used to build roads, houses. Parents would send their sons to,the Abbey to get an education. Many boys stayed. You had many children. Many died in childhood. You were required to give a son and daughter to the church.









Model of the church. People living in the gates of church all had a house with a garden. Gate around the Abbey. And an outer gate around larger area. Houses on the outside.

Location:Quai du Docteur Gailleton,Lyon,France

Perouges, France

Medieval town. Has been restored and people are living in it.

Center of street and where the trash, sewage, was thrown.

Wall of building

Fake windows are put on house so the spirits of dead relatives can come back in.


Well for water

Shelves in windows that were used to sell wears from your house.

Restaurant

Dessert, Like a pizza with sugar and a little lemon cooked on it.

Our room on the boat.

This is a light put on the sidewalks. They do not want poles with street lights. Must keep the city looking medieval. Also the potholes in sidewalk for sewage, plumbing look the same as this.

Museum D'Orsey Paris Opera House. Sat.

We loved the art work at the D'Orsey. Spent 2. 1/2 hours there. It was an old train station and redone in the 1980s. so crowded! Ate a nice lunch on the fifth floor. I had a plate of different cheeses. Very French.















Lunch



Bridge where lovers put a lock to symbolize their love and always being together. I saw the same thing at the Great Wall in China.



Paris Opera House
What a beautiful place. It took 40 years to build in 1850s. They ran out of money. Seats 1900 but has 300 blind seats. They build a new one it recent years. This is now used for ballet.
The gallery









Chagall painting



Main steps






River cruise at night. Not worth it. Can be skipped. Also it was so cold. There was a full moon.
After we went for mussels for dinner again. Restaurant was called Leon's. We toured from 9:30 in the AM to 10:00 PM. Long days and a lot of walking.




We stopped into the Apple store. It was a converted bank. Had a small basement and second floor. Was unbelievably crowded. Hundreds of people milling around. Such a happening. We found free Internet there.
Our hotel was $300 a night the first two nights. Cigarette smell and very small room. Now we are in a $500 a night room. No smoking and very nice. We have a corner room with a window on both sides. The last two nights there has been NOISE outside. The first night was like a street fair. Last night was singing and like a protest march. Police were called. It went on all night. When we complained. The manager said, It is Paris!!! Tonight is too cold for all that activity outside. Except there are homeless sleeping one floor below me. We are on the second floor. There are two couples with babies leaning against the wall outside the hotel. Babies in 30 degree weather outside! And men sleeping in other areas. This is the picture Sunday morning. See the stroller. I wonder where the mattress came from. In the morning, they were all gone. But I found some things stored behind a post. One mother was talking on a cell phone. I heard a baby crying last night. I understand a person becoming homeless and some people prefer to be homeless. Many people are mentally ill. Families can not help them and they are worn down with the ill persons problems. But putting a baby into the lifestyle? Is there no one to take the child? The guide explained that many of the homeless come from Eastern countries. Thinking they will have a better life. There are charities that walk the streets at night and try to help. France will send the people back to their country.



What was I thinking about coming to Paris without a scarf? It is COLD. It was not supposed to be this cold. Everyone wears a scarf. Generally, I do not like wearing them. But I also go from car to building in the USA. Not walk the streets and up and down the Metro.


Well I fixed the problem. I liked the scarf. And it was the cheapest one at the Louvre. And none of them were cheap! Thanks, Eve for my North Face flannel coat. And the Kipling purse. Next visit I will bring a hat.



One of the things we were warned about was pickpockets. Well a young girl dropped a gold ? Ring in front of me. I started to lean down and Jack grabbed my arm and told her to get away. Hours later, the same girl did it again in front of me when we left the museum. Then she looked at me a began to laugh, as did I. She realized, she had played than trick on me before. Same thing happened with an old woman. I safety pinned the zipper on my purse after one women told me she was almost robbed on the Metro.

Walking tour of the Marais. The Louvre Fri.

It is COLD today! My ears were cold.
Hot Chocolate



We ran into our tour guide from the first day in the Louvre. Notice her scarf. All the French people are wearing scarfs. It's is the woman that had the most beautiful speech.


The Louvre was more than large and so crowded. It is a happening, Just to walk into it.









We went to an exhibit about the Jewish children during WWII at the post office. Very interesting how the Parisian people helped to hide the children. You can see the billboard in the center of the picture.






We walked around the inside of the BHV department store. Why can't Pittsburgh have a nice good quality store anymore? We ate lunch there. Very nice food. Sat next to a mother and daughter from Wisconsin. Had a fun conservation.

Walking tour with some of the Viking tour people.
Place des Vosges. A square of houses around a park. This is where King Louis 14 died from an infected eye from a duel. Houses are narrow. First example of a planned community. Walk through and there is a large yard and the rest of the house is in back.
Every two windows is a house. Notice the very very small car.





Yard and second house which was. In back of house.



Fake wall so the house looks larger from the outside. Looks like the letter R in vines.








King Louis 14. There are pictures and statues of him everywhere. In Versailles there was one in every room. He was a vain, evil man.


Bikes that you rent. The first 1/2 hour is free. You use a credit like card. When the seat of the bike is backyards, it means that the bike is broken the needs to be repaired.






Walk in Le Marais. It is the old Jewish quarter. The streets are very narrow and are walking only areas. But cars still go down the streets. Old jewish temple






Bakery








We went into a store called Habitat. With wonderful modern furniture not sold in the US. Here is a perfect chair for our kitchen table but, not to be. Notice all the red items. Perfect for the Pittsburgh house.