It was Charlie’s birthday and he chose to go on a boat cruise. Les Bateaux Lyonnais offers a 1-hour tour that goes up the Saone for a bit and then all the way down to the confluence with the Rhone. It’s a good way to see the various parts of the city from the perspective of the river. We had considered taking the cruise a week or so earlier but they weren’t offering it then due to the high water from the spring runoff.
We sat on the roof of the boat so we could get the best view. A class of squirmy elementary school kids, probably around 9 years old, joined us on the roof. Unfortunately, the squirmiest kid of the group, Enzo, sat right in front of us. We knew his name was Enzo because his teacher kept reprimanding him. At one point in the cruise Enzo decided that it would be interesting to take a sip of his bottled water and spit off the side of the boat, presumably to see it hit the water. Third graders have not yet been taught physics so he miscalculated the effects of wind speed and direction, and his spit ended up on us instead. Carrie tried to resurrect her best high school French to say “Don’t spit on us!” but her demeanor was more convincing than her French.
When we returned to our apartment Tiana gave Charlie a birthday haircut. He was due for a haircut, but he mostly wanted to be able to tell people that he had brought his stylist along on his trip to France.
For Charlie’s birthday dinner we went to one of Lyon’s best known bouchons, Daniel et Denise. A bouchon is a type of restaurant typical of Lyon. The food is excellent but the atmosphere is casual, with closely packed tables and red-and-white checkered tablecloths. We had a lengthy and memorable meal. In the back of the restaurant there was a big table occupied by a group of local French men and a few women. Part way through the meal several of them got up, put on raincoats, and started singing and dancing around their table. We never figured out what that was all about but it was fun to watch.
