While Rick was in Tiananmen Square in Beijing watching a somewhat “friendly” protest, I was in my backyard viewing the first firefly sighting of the season. Just a few faint ones, but still, there they were. The frogs were also busy singing tonight around dusk. The low pitched altos and the baby sopranos gave a lovely concert. I have never lived anywhere else that I can have both fireflies and frog song. I can’t begin to tell you how happy they both make me. Plus, there was also a bat swooping around eating insects. Granted, there was only one where we used to have at least six or seven, but due to some kind of mold (which I can’t remember what it was exactly) our bat population has died off over the past several years. I hope they are making a comeback.

Speaking of coming back, I will be glad when my husband is home once again!

Mt. Fuji through the haze as seen by Rick two days ago. Photo by Rick.

I am sure you are scratching your heads about my title. Right now Rick is in Japan. His night is my day and vice versa. When he calls me upon rising on his morning, my night is just beginning.  A bit strange. Right now he is already starting my tomorrow. He is eating sashimi and I am eating leftovers.

I should know by now that buying frozen food I am not going to like it. Yet again, while in Trader Joe’s yesterday I bought a frozen chile relleno thinking it sounded good. For 45 minutes my would-be dinner cooked in the oven. Cutting into the chewy, too-old poblano chile, I knew before it reached my mouth that I was not going to like it. Ugh. In the trash it went. I ended up warming up pasta and homemade sauce that I made last night. I hate eating on my own! Maybe it has to do with being super picky about what I eat. But I refuse to eat things that don’t taste good. It’s just not worth it!

The dogs and I went for a walk after dinner tonight. Today was quite warm here, around 80F and sunny. The past few days have been rainy and the dogs have not been able to even get out and do their normal thing. Yesterday while it was raining heavily Bella went to the door and woofed. I opened the door, she peered out and sniffed, then turned to look at me like WTF? Sorry, kiddo. I can’t change the weather. Here are Alex and Hailey chilling out from their walk. I love Alex’s “frog-dog” position.

Anyway, sitting out on the deck while the dogs cooled down from their walk was very pleasant. The cool but humid air and the peepers singing their froggy song from the woods washed over me like a calming balm. So soothing. Puffy clouds scudded by in the sky vying for space with the moon that looks like a pie sliced in half.

My eyes scanned the yard for fireflies, but as yet, none in sight. Since everything else this year is two weeks ahead of schedule I was hoping that they would show up early. Too soon, I guess.

All too soon it was dark and time to come in. Here is the moon just before I came in.

Sometimes it’s hard to imagine my husband nearly half a world away in the daylight.

P.S. More to come on our trip but I am thinking everyone is getting bored by now of more photos ...

Bless me bloggers, for I have sinned. It’s been one week since my last blog post. Sorry for the hiccup in recounting our vacation but my sister was here visiting and we kept so busy there was no time for blogging.

A few more photos of street scenes to share with you.

Front of the St-Jean Cathedral built in the 12 century.

The crêpe cart. You could get them “to go” or eat in at the restaurant. We ate at this restaurant one night and I did end up having a delicious fromage/jambon crêpe. Yum.

Bikes for rent. You could rent them in one place and return them in another. But as to who really wants to ride on rough cobblestoned streets ... well ... not me. ouch.

Over on the Presqu’île one building was painted completely in wall murals.

Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

The lovely Place des Terreaux.

And it’s huge fountain of four charging horses symbolizing the two great rivers running towards the ocean.

They even blow steam from their nostrils!

Tunnel under Vieux Lyon

Visiting a “foreign” country is a little like Alice going down the rabbit hole. When you emerge on the other side your world is turned upside down. Things no longer look like what you normally see. People behave differently and speak another language. It takes a little while to assimilate, but it’s well worth it.

This is what I saw from our hotel room window:

Our hotel was in the heart of Vieux (old) Lyon. A little on the quirky side, but very nice. At one time it was an old school, hence the name le Collège and the dormitory/school theme throughout. I thought the chairs on the outside of the building were whimsical.

The rooms were kind of sparse and all in white. Our closet was a locker. Every morning the linens were changed—all crisp and wonderfully fresh smelling. The hotel did not have a restaurant, only a breakfast room, but since so many restaurants were within a short walking distance it was not a problem. A continental breakfast awaited us each morning, complete with freshly squeezed orange juice, meat, cheese,  yogurt, and a variety of breads. I have to admit I was happy not to see beans, mushrooms and tomatoes offered which was part of our Irish breakfasts.

Painting in the reception area.

Lyon doesn’t really get the credit it is due. It’s always Paris, Paris, Paris! Lyon lies at the confluence of two mighty rivers: the Rhône and the Saône. The older part of the city being on the west side of the Saône, and la Presqu’île (almost an island), home to the best shopping streets, lies between the two rivers, and the newer parts of the city lie east of the Rhône. Quite a beautiful setting!

There are many beautiful forms of architecture. And you know me: I’m a doorway-and-window kind of girl.

Looking up at the ceilings of balconies.

The streets are narrow and cobblestoned.

The view from a little way up a montée, but more on montées in a another post! (Montées or rises consist of winding flights of steps and steeply sloping streets.)

to be continued ...

P.S. You can see an example of a montée in the second to last photo.

Our journey started with two days in Dublin, Ireland. The first day was our day of arrival and Rick and I had the day together. We took a three-hour nap after checking into our hotel. There were plans to meet up a little later in the afternoon at the Guinness Storehouse with the people attending the training, so we decided to take a taxi there so we would know where it was.

When we got there we saw horse-drawn carriages waiting curbside so we took a short tour in one. Our horse was very peppy and trotted right out. What fun! Sometimes you just have to be a tourist! Here are some scenes taken from our carriage ride. Mind you, we were snapping these while in motion!

St. Patrick’s.

Christchurch.

There were an amazing number of horse-drawn carriages on the streets, and not all of them were for the tourists. One absolutely gorgeous horse went trotting by so fast pulling what looked like a harness racing buggy that I just stood there with my mouth open and not even enough time to get the camera out. This is obviously a country that loves their horses.

Another thing that is quite obvious that the Irish love and are proud of: their Guinness. Hence, the obligatory tour of the Guinness Storehouse with it’s “free” beer at the end. I say “free” because they charge 15 euros for the tour ~wink~.

The best part of the tour for me was not the beer, but learning how the coopers made the barrels. True craftsmen. It’s a shame that it’s a dying art.

On the way up to the bar at the top these reflective windows caught my eye.

And finally the end of the tour and what everyone really came for.

I am not a beer lover, so after getting about half of mine down I handed it over to Rick to finish. I was amazed at how long it held its foamy head though!

The view of Dublin from the top of the Storehouse.

I am throwing in this photo taken on the Guinness grounds just for fun. Someone had a sense of humor!

I have to admit that although I found the people warm and friendly, Dublin itself did not grab me in any special way. And beans (like pork & beans), cooked tomatoes and mushrooms are just not appealing to me as a side for breakfast!

After another day of sightseeing on my own, it was off to France!