Our vacation could have gone terribly wrong on this day.

We woke up early, and went to the train station to catch a 7:17a.m. train. It is a short trip from Bayeux to Caen, where we transferred to another train going from Caen to Mantes la Jolie. This train ride would be about an hour and half long... just long enough to take your shoes off or set your bags down. Penny took her shoes off, and I set my bag down. We had a compartment all to ourselves and had a great ride. When we got to Mantes la Jolie, we rushed right off to our next train, which was leaving in 7 minutes.

As we were getting off the train and looking to see which platform our next train was on, we must have looked pretty confused, for a French gentleman (referred to from here on as the "nice man") asked if he could help us... I think... I showed him our itinerary, and he began to lead us to our next platform. We walked down the stairs to the underground passage to the other platforms. As we were walking another Frenchman with a walkie-talkie came up and said something to us... I didn't understand, and I told him so. He asked if we had forgotten a bag on the train. Penny looked around her person and said "no." I looked around my person and said "yes." Not a big deal... just a small bag... with just a few items:

My digital Camera	My Passport	My debit card

Penny told me to go on ahead and leave my suitcase with her. So I did, and the walkie-talkie man and the nice man and I went back up the stairs and toward the station. It took a little while, but I was able to find out from the walkie-talkie man that they actually had the bag in their possession at the same train station where I was. A bearded man came our way and had my camera bag with him... I thanked the walkie-talkie man profusely, and followed the nice man to our platform. He pointed us up the platform to where the first class cars would be when the train came in. I thanked him kindly. I told him that he was nice. "Vous êtes tres gentile." But that didn't seem like quite enough. I had only known him for a few minutes. I wouldn't recognize him if he broke into my house today. Yet somehow, I felt compelled to say to him: "Je t'aime." Because right then and there, I did love him.

We were on the train to Lyon for about a half hour when there came an announcement. I didn't quite understand what the announcer had said, so I tried to clarify it with the man sitting next to me. He told me that I had understood correctly; the dining car was closed. They had announced earlier that it was open, but it turns out that there is a strike of some kind, and now the dining car had no food. He explained that this was one of the bad things about France, but that it didn't outweigh the good things, so he still lives in France although he has had offers for jobs in the States. I'm not sure whether it was the fact that I simply asked a question, or whether it was because I asked the question in French, but he turned out to be a very nice man, and my question led us to talk for the rest of the train ride. When we came into Lyon, we parted ways. He gave me his business card, so I suppose if anyone is in the market for food coloring or textile coloring, I would recommend his company, because Michel turned out to be such a nice person.

We finally arrived in Vienne at about 2 in the afternoon. We made our way to the tourist office, found our hotel, got our bearings about us, and set off to see some of the Roman ruins that the town is well known for. First on our list was the great amphitheatre in town. This great theatre, which can hold over 13,000 people, was hidden by earth until the early 1900s. This has left the theatre in terrific condition. The steps and seats are almost entirely intact, with crisp edges and flat surfaces. Pieces of the ancient stage exist, but new fixtures have been added to accomodate the Huge jazz festival (and others) which takes place in Vienne each year. We enjoyed the wonderful view from atop the amphitheatre, and then we headed into town.

We found some more signs of the ancien Roman occupancy closer to the heart of town. There is a great temple, the Temple to Augustus and Livia, in front of which Penny and I took a break from the walking and the heat at a café. The temple was used as a church from the 6th century until the Revolution. In the early 1800s it was used as a museum and a library, during which time walls were built in between the columns you can see here. Toward the end of the century, it was restored to the way that you see it here.

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