V. Versus the Wheel

V., let us say with some degree of understatement, has no head for heights. She won't even step out onto our balcony by herself, and I haven't been able to coax her onto the Ferris Wheel at the North Carolina State Fair since about 1994. Come to think of it, I haven't been able to coax her back to the Fair since then...something about an irrational fear of carnies.

So I was pleased with myself for dragging her onto the Grand Roue ("the largest travelling wheel in Europe") set up in Place Bellecour, and I even got a few pictures. But she's forbidden me to share them--which is a shame, as they range amusingly from nervousness to naked terror. But here are some photos of the rest of the ride anyway:


The empty wheel at 8AM. It seems there was some sort of electrical glitch that led to a passenger being zapped with a huge jolt of accumulated static electricity the first day the wheel was open, leading to it being closed again for several days while they corrected the problem. Needless to say, I hid the newspaper from V. for a day or two.






Waiting for tickets.


























To add to the ambiance, the wheel's operators imported the finest airbrush artists from the Myrtle Beach pavilion.








On the way up. Sure are a lot of people out on Place Bellecour tonight.










Hey, I can see our house from here!

(Well, the back side of our building, anyway.)









Place Carnot clock tower (far right), post office, and Pont de L'Universite over the Rhone.

About this time the baby started to fuss--it was pretty windy up there--so I had to put the camera away. Also V's fingernails were starting to penetrate my jacket sleeve.