Ah, Frenchmen!! Here is a typical Frenchman having a grand noir at a cafe near Les Halles. Such contentment!! I am sure he will sit for hours just relaxing and people watching. What more could one ask? (Truth: the "Frenchman" is from Kentucky but no one knows until he says "Bon Jour". The ultimate giveaway according to real Frenchman.) Fooled you?

Four Hours Before I took this photo, the whole area was full of a huge wedding party participants. The guests were treated to a band, several white tents and white canopies, flowers, food, etc. It was so lively. Voiron can brag of this beautiful church, so alive, so well-maintained. It was a real pleasure to see all the activity in this lovely setting.

Look hard.....street level....right in the center of the photo...you are looking at one of the three oldest restaurant establishments in all of France located here in Voiron. I forget the correct name but I know it has "Archers", the kind with bows and arrows, in the title. Tomorrow you will be privileged to see the lovely church to which the steps in the foreground belong. The city is lovely and you'll love it, too.

I promised you an interior shot of "Le Gentilhommiere" and here it is. I know this isn't the standard interior shot but I thought it was a bit more fun than the regular. Notice the relief work above the mirror. There was quite a bit of it about and all painted in delicate colours. I found it to be great fun just looking about at the artwork in the delightful cafe.

We found this little cafe on a square in a town in the Alps. I will show you a bit of the interior in my next post. It had such charm. So very French! We had coffee and played Scrabble (in French). It was a delightful afternoon that we spent there. The name of the place?
"Les Gentilhommiere"......catchy huh?

We journeyed to Chartreuse, a fabulous city. There we toured the plant where they make the elixir of all elixirs. To me, it tastes like creme de menthe with added pungent flavors. The tour ends in this grand tasting room where you can sample the products, purchase same. We bought their candy, T shirts, and souvenir aprons. The whole set-up is excellent from the museum to the plant to the gift shop. The docent was excellent and explained the whole process. Some things are kept secret to prevent imitations from being made.

This restaurant is a must for tourists and natives alike. It is near Les Halles. They keep the storefront so beautifully. You'll enjoy everything about it. This photo shows only a part of the extensive front. "Foot of the Pig" sounds better in French but then so many things sound much better in French. Agree?

This is a view from le Cour des Halles. These are among the ugliest statues that I have ever seen. I know, I know.....it's art. You must do something different to get noticed in the art world. These, I notice. Wish I hadn't. I must rush back to the Louvre and see the good stuff.

This is just one of the areas at the huge breakfast buffet in Sweden. I won't bore you with the rest of the photos. Besides, I don't want to be responsible for you going off your diet.

This is the outside of the old hotel posted especially for our friend Michael. Yesterday was the staircase. Tomorrow I will limit myself to one photo of the most incredible breakfast buffet in Sweden. We took about 20 photos so as to cover every area. It included a wonderful do- it -yourself flat waffle maker....complete with batter. The Swedish guy made a cute joke about the doneness of our waffles. The folks there are so wonderfully friendly.

This is an ornate but beautiful railing that follows the steps about 5 stories up. The hotel is the oldest in Umea, Sweden. The hotel even had a lovely drawing room with an ironing board and an iron set up in a nook. I ironed a shirt just to take advantange of the ambience. The chandeliers were works of art. The floors weren't shabby either as you can see for yourself.