ancient and modern

Anniemay had the great idea of taking a river cruise on the Seine today.  A round trip of about an hour, from the Eiffel Tower, upstream to Notre Dame and back.  A lot of history, without a lot of walking.  Although she did manage the walk from our hotel, down to the embarkation point; just under a mile.  And the walk back.

There are a lot of boats plying their trade up and down the river.  Massive old barges and some rather large cruise boats. Ours is modern - electric powered - and not too big.

There’s quite a queue waiting to get on board by the time we arrive at the appointed time. We’re just about to join it, when I am escorted from the line and offered a seat; “please sit here, sir” says a member of the crew. “When it’s time to board, I will make sure you get on first”.  

People are staring at me - not in a good way - and I have no idea what’s going on. Anniemay says there’s something about ‘ancients’ written on the bench and we deduce that it’s reserved seating for old people.  

I thank the crew member in my best ‘Paul Whitehouse old man voice’ and hobble towards the gangway.  I feel an Oscar nomination coming on, until Anniemay nearly blows it by laughing too much. 

Main photo is Anniemay blipping Notre Dame; the extra is a boatload of people coming the other way. See her blip for more.

And thank you for all the comments; I will catch up.