It almost goes without saying, but one of the best things about traveling to new places is the opportunity to identify and experience the small differences in everyday life, the things that make a place uniquely its own. Communications technologies and media are clearly having an unfortunate leveling effect on these differences, gradually erasing many of the quirks that bestow charm on a place. So, it’s always pleasant to stumble on subtle reminders of what makes France so, well, French.

Today, I created an account on our gas company’s website so I can keep tabs on exactly how much it costs to heat an apartment in the Alps (the answer is “un soupçon” when viewed by someone who payed PG&E bills in California during the Enron years and now wants to use French words he can’t really pronounce — for the rest of you, it’s “not much”). The standard web forms proceeded, one after the other, with prompts for account numbers, usernames, and passwords. Finally, when you get to the obligatory secret question they’ll use to help you recover a lost password, you’re presented with a series of options, the first of which is, “What was the first meal you cooked?”

Forget about my high school mascot and place of birth — I’m going with Top Ramen and Tuna Fish. Perhaps not the most French answer to a very French question, but to thine ownself be true as ole Billy the Shakes sez..

all well and good, but where are the pictures?

Point taken, there, Mr. Oddly Combative heading. So, here are the kids and I engaging in a little rapid-fire tour of Lyon a couple weekends ago. Lyon’s sort of the second city of France, though that unfairly damns it with faint praise – it’s a beautiful city, full of top-notch restaurants, interesting museums, and an incredible array of unscooped animal droppings. I’m pretty sure they don’t put that last one in the brochures or anything.

Kristanne was a trooper for this weekend, fighting a massive cold and still gamely navigating hither and yon through those sights of Lyon we could fit in. Hard to believe it’s taken us so long to get to Lyon, what with it being so chock full of cool things and only an hour away. We’ll be back!

Crossing from the Presqu’île to Vieux Lyon.