Place du Châtelet, Orleans

Featured are half-timbered buildings--and a terrific public toilet, which we both used; it was a bit cramped but functioned perfectly, with no toilet smell at all.  And it doubles as an advertising pillar (I can't think of the proper term). Such toilets are common in French cities, and in Orleans they were indicated on the little tourist map which we used. 

The first extra shows the cathedral during the funeral service (which I mentioned yesterday) for Xavier Beulin, a major labor union official. The service was audible and visible on the screen; 3,600 persons squeezed into the cathedral, including François Hollande and Nicholas Sarkozy, the current and former French presidents. On a happier note is the second extra, a red-haired pianist was playing the piano in the railroad station in Paris when we arrived (such pianos are often available in stations here)