GREETings from Grenoble: Only Lyon

We decided to take a break from Grenoble today and head a bit north to Lyon. In France we are not allowed to work in the labs on the weekend (I hope Mark doesn’t get addicted to this) and we are here to expand our culture and celebrate the international nature of science. We hoped on a train from Grenoble and took the 1.5 hour ride through the French country side. It was really beautiful and looking out at the small towns and villages along the way is very eye opening. Most of the villages are centered around a church, many of which are hundreds of years old – older than most of the surviving structures built in the US. It is also a great reminder of history and a testament to building materials and standards from days gone by when one considers the tests that these structures have withstood.

Lyon is a bit bigger than Grenoble and a bit more industrial (at least from first appearances). After taking a few minutes to gather our bearings (with no map) we set out in what we hoped would be a good direction. It turns out we struck gold! Lyon is situated on the banks of the Rhone and Saone Rivers with what appears to be the older part of town in between. During the course of the day, we walked many miles and climbed untold stairs. While Lyon lacks the mountains around Grenoble, there was a large church with a park on the hillside that we decided we had to see. Notre Dame de Fourviere is a beautiful, and enormous, church built with a surrounding park that provides an unprecedented view of the city. After checking this out and numerous other beautiful sites in the city, we found some of the Roman ruins, remnants of an era long ago before heading back to Grenoble on a much more crowded train.

Overall, it was a great day of exploring and now we are ready to begin a new week with lots of exciting research activities.