Weekend in Lyon!

Time for a little backtracking! I am back in Toulouse from my week of science. Where I last left you, I was in Lyon for the weekend. I was there until Sunday, then left for Nantes on Monday, and stayed there until Friday.

So, what happened in Lyon? Quite a lot! Friday was our big Merial day. I may have mentioned last time (I've forgotten) that France is now the world HQ of the entire company, and it also has a huge R&D center, which we spent Friday visiting.  We got to meet an American DVM/PhD who now works here in France, which means it is possible! He took us on a great visit of the center, and he and another DVM/PhD gave us some really informative talks on careers with Merial and in research and industry in general. For those who are scared of the job prospects in the direct animal care aspect, research is actually a pretty lucrative career field with many interesting possibilities for travel. Generally you need a Ph.D, which is a downside if you are sick of school, but once you do, job opportunities are really out there. In simplification, research can be divided into two large groups - academia, and industry. In academia the advantage is that you have more academic freedom to research whatever you want, but on the downsides, you're constantly writing grants asking for money (which gets very frustrating, as there isn't enough to go around) and consequently earn less. In industry, you'll often do things like help towards developing new animal health products, which pays a lot more, but you also sacrifice academic freedom. So it all depends on what you want. The important thing here is that I'm glad I got to be exposed to this different side of the veterinary field - one that we don't hear much about in vet school. In short, it was an awesome visit and I'm definitely keeping this option in mind. We also got some awesome Merial swag: a canine dermatology texbook (in French, but lucky for me I can now read it ;) ), a jacket, cap, bag, and so on. Yay, free stuff! Getting the textbook home should be fun, but I'll find a way!

Friday night through Sunday we had on our own, which was fabulous because I got to visit Lyon mostly on foot from my awesome location smack-dab in the center of town. Friday night was France's national Fête de la musique, which is when every city across France puts on music acts all over town, day and night, and no matter where you turn, once you're out of earshot of one act, another one starts to come in. Not just planned acts by the city, but street performers with their guitars, restaurants hosting classy live jazz bands, DJ's on the roof of quick-stop eateries by the river, and even big salsa bands in an open square for people to listen and dance. I didn't stay out super late, but had a great time walking around and enjoying all the above-mentioned acts, even on my own. Now, some pictures:

My hotel room! With a small kitchen and very nice bath too. I enjoyed watching some French tv (which isn't typically very good, but fun nonetheless!)

Up on the 8th floor! Nice little view over the city.

 

Lyon by night. Random bunch of swans swimming around (sorry, my camera isn't great for night shots!)

 

Rooftop DJ!

Nicely lit up town square on the way back to the hotel.

All in all, a night well spent. As for Saturday and Sunday? Playing tourist was fun. Breakfast was provided every morning in the hotel, basically the delicious French equivalent of the continental breakfast. I discovered a huge outdoor food market along the river no more than two minutes from my hotel alongside the river, so lunch + dinner for both days was bought there. Cheap, delicious, and healthy! It could get a bit chaotic at times, though. But since I did so much and could be here forever writing, how about a photo highlight reel of the weekend instead? :)

Statue of Louis XIV, everyone's favorite French king!

Pickin' cheese at the market.

Who wants chicken?! :D

Not just food, but carpets too! Little hard to carry home in the suitcase, though...

A lion in Lyon...get it? Found walking through Old Lyon.

View over central Lyon from Notre Dame de Fourvière, Lyon's most famous hilltop chapel.

Fourvière. Just as beautiful inside...better be, as I had to walk up over 400 steps to get there! (and I stopped counting)

Statue of Pope John Paul II, who blessed this chapel.

On my way back down, the old Roman amphitheatre and ruins. Still used today for concerts!

Lunch among the ruins! Fresh strawberries, cherries, bread, and cheese. The next day I added sausage with goat cheese inside :)

Inside Lyon's museum of fabric and decorative arts. So luxurious!

Lyon is historically famous for its silk. I can see why.

The detail was crazy!!

Pretty silk dresses! There was so much more to the museum, including the decorative arts portion - but no pictures allowed. Essentially rooms upon rooms of how the richest French people lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Simply mindblowing...life was good for the rich back then!

Walking back around town. Lyon sits on two rivers, the Rhone and the Saone.

 

The massive rose garden at Lyon's Parc de la Tête d'Or, the largest urban park in Europe! It was huge. Spent almost all day here.

The impressive old greenhouse, dating back to the 19th century!

This park also has a zoo! Here is there turtle rehabilitation center, where they accept pet turtles people don't want anymore so they're not dumped into the wild (where they are pretty destructive)

So many deer! There were tons of other animals; this is just one exhibit.

Back to the rose garden - over 100 varieties, and every year a contest is held for new varieties that gardeners produce. Apparently it's quite prestigious to create beautiful new varieties of rose.

Back to the park around the lake. I had lunch not too far from here!

Last but not least, baby ducks :) The park also had a pretty good zoo, with lots of baby animals!

So, that's Lyon! Lots of pictures, and I definitely took a good bit more. Thanks for reading!