Saturday in Paris

We started the morning by visiting a photo exhibit in the Hotel de Ville.  It featured photos taken in the 30's, capturing the changing moods of the people of France.  It's impossible to capture the whole essence of the show, so I picked a few photos that spoke to me.

Hotel de Ville (south side)

The photo show

Then after the show, I walked around the Marais for a while.  One never knows what one will encounter.  Today, I found a protest march in progress.  A wedding.  A market.  And people in costumes.

Protest march

Newlyweds

Market

Ladies in costume (from San Simon?)

Scenes of the Seine flooding

At the beginning of May, Paris was warm and sunny. But during May, a record amount of rain fell.  At the beginning of June, Paris is quite cool, and damp.  Upstream, a lot of rain has fallen as well.  The net result is that the Seine River is flooding Paris.  Low-lying roads and riverside cafes are under water.  The river is predicted to crest today.  Some of the RER trains lines have been flooded, and at least 2 major (riverside) museums are closed as they move art treasures from their basements up to higher ground.

The river is a nasty brown color, and it is filled with logs and other debris.  Here is what it looked like this morning.

Looking south across the Pont D'Arcole

Looking east

Looking north at the Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

Looking west

A flooded roadway

Flooded road, river walk, and trees

Driving to Paris

OK,  three words: don't do it.  At first, it doesn't sound that bad.  But from Arles to Paris is 7 or 8 hours of driving, at insane highway speed, on toll roads that they should be ashamed of charging for in some places. Through many construction zones, the lane widths have been reduced (so trucks take up more than one lane in width), and for a couple of long stretches, only one lane of traffic was open northbound and southbound, separated only by plastic cones. Throw in some rain, and voila -- a very long day.

We started out with bright sunshine, and an old walled fort on the hil

We left Arles at 6 AM to get into Paris before rush hour, but that put us driving through Lyon at the morning rush hour.  So we got a much longer look at Lyon than we imagined.

Lyon

Lyon

Some interesting structures were visible along the way.

The rain has kept everything green.

Last day in the south

Things have largely gone well this year, up until the labor disputes that have caused gas shortages (which don't seem to be a problem right now) and the railroad strikes.  As we were planning to take the train back to Paris tomorrow, the cancellation of our train made us rethink our strategy.  So now, we will be driving the 7 or 8 hours via toll-road. I hope that is is a bon voyage.

As we leave Arles,  I'm posting some parting shots -- art from the jardin de ete.

This mosaic piece is lovely with the plantings

Yet it goes well with the antique Roman amphitheater as well

A bientot