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It rained most of today. The weather has really been awful, and the change from May to June made no difference.

This morning Ally, Eli, and I braved the storm to visit the market along the Saône. We saw a lot of great things we'd like to try, but we did not buy very much since we knew we'd be out most of the day. We bought some items for dinner and some classic orange apricots.

We met up with Jenafer, Marty, and Nano for a bus tour of Lyon. It certainly beat walking in the rain, and the narration was at times comical. The very serious narrator told us that some bridge over the Rhône was destroyed during World War II, and therefore "had to be rebuilt exactly as it was before the war." Yes, the Lyonnais had to recreate the bridge. There was simply no alternative. I suppose if they had not rebuilt it, the Nazis would have won. We were also informed that "the Lumière Brothers, of course, invented the cinematograph." Of course they did. Of course.

We got off the bus partway through--it was one of those "hop-on, hop-off" affairs, although neither Eli nor Nano do much hopping--for lunch. It looked like we were going to eat at Sud, a Paul Bocuse brasserie, but for some reason that did not occur. We ended up at a restaurant nearby and had a good meal. Ally, Jenafer, and I chose tartiflette (potatoes with onions, lardons, and reblochon), which is unbeatable. On the other hand, Ally and I failed to realize that gratinée d'oignon is the Lyonnais term for what is called in Paris soupe à l'oignon: French onion soup. We had imagined something quite different.

We hopped back on the bus, but then I got off a little later to meet Vic and Candie at Part Dieu. I found them just as they were stepping off the train. Yes, it was very fortunate, because they weren't actually expecting me. Ally and Eli came a little bit later, after seeing her relatives to a museum, and we all went back out to the apartment. Vic and Candie packed very light, so we made the trip by bus.

We made the dinner we had bought: fresh ravioli from the market. We had two varieties: zucchini flower (which we served with a jar of very fresh and chunky tomato sauce, almost like a salsa) and fig-ham (which we served with oil and fresh parmesan). They were, predictably, excellent. Eli hated his French toddler meal and forced us to give him ravioli. Well, I don't blame him. The toddler meal smelled horrible whereas the adults were all enjoying the ravioli.

Eli went to sleep, leaving us adults to make some phone calls and plan the next few days. We will report on our plans if they come to fruition or fail spectacularly, but not if they are simply superseded by events.