Back in Paris

I'm old enough to have started collecting a list of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, sort of a reverse bucket list. The first three are:

• Having all four wisdom teeth removed.
• Hiking Bright Angel Trail at the Grand Canyon and spending the night at the riverside ranch.
• Driving in Paris

Yes, I've done it, and no, I don't need to do it again. Ever. The insane asylums here are overcrowded so the give the inmates motorcycles and turn them loose. I take great pride in the fact that when I returned the rental car after having put 2,609 miles on it in two weeks, the inspector recorded 0 damage to it. No applause necessary. (For comparison, the full length of I-40, from Wilmington NC to Barstow CA is only 2,479 miles.)

Today's drive, from Lyon to Paris, was about the same distance and duration as the Dallas-to-Houston trip that we took dozens of times during the twenty years we lived in the Dallas area. There was, however, a slight difference in the scenery, as the following snaps by Anita through the car window show.

As I suspected, the trip was longer than the four hours Google estimated, not so much because Google didn't know there was a train strike, but because getting the car turned in was more of a challenge than anticipated. But we made it, and are tucked in for the night in a lovely apartment, as suggested here; the host took the picture, and complimented me on having "two Marilyns" to keep me company.

 

We're in a neighborhood called "the Marais". We haven't had time yet for a full-on explore, but we do know that the next street over is a pedestrian center, frequented by young professionals, where we had a light dinner. Can you find Waldo (me) in there with all the young movers and shakers?

 

Tomorrow we have some sight-seeing to do, and will end the evening having dinner with Jean-Marcel, a friend we made during our visit last summer. Tonight we're looking forward to a good night's sleep as a fitting end to a fabulous road trip.