This morning, Brian had no presentations to watch, so we took a bus to downtown Lyon, an UNESCO World Heritage site (2000 years of history). We wanted the bus because it is all on the surface. Subways are faster, but you see less overall. We wanted to see two places (French for plaza).

On the way, we saw some churches. From a previous trip to France with her mom (2003), Clare got trained to go into every church. So we took photographs. This one had more modern looking stained glass, with larger single pieces.

Another church had different sorts of stained glass and a pipe organ!

Place Terreaux was our first planned destination. The fountain made of lead dates from 1892. It made us wonder about the water quality nearby. The famous Hôtel de Ville fronts the square.

Between places, we avoided construction and traffic by walking on small streets.

We had some great views of Cathédrale Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Lyon on the hill, familiar to us from a previous visit with our friends. At top, the views of the city were incredible, which is why it was so easy to spot from many sites.

This was a strange fountain, with women squeezing fish to spray the water. This is at Place des Jacobins. The place dates from 1556, and the fountain was added three centuries later.

Place Bellecour was our next planned destination. The statue of Louis XIV on horseback was being refurbished.

Continuing to walk about, we saw a monument to an old hospital, a memorial for the Armenian genocide (Mémorial Lyonnais du Génocide des Arméniens) and a huge flower tree.

We walked along the Rhône back toward the hotel and conference center.

In the evening, we took a bus toward a brewery for a Goldschmidt event, “Goldschmidt Rocks” with lots of colleagues. The weather was changing, and we saw thunderstorm clouds and great street art. We guess that Ninkasi brewery here and the one in Eugene, Oregon are both named for the Sumerian goddess of fermentation.

Brian went to meetings in the morning, but in the afternoon we decided to visit the confluence of the Rhône and Saône Rivers. The temperatures were soaring, but we figured out the bus and tram systems and went.

It is dangerous to catch the tail of a tiger, but Clare decided the tail of a lion would be OK (this is near the confluence).

Looking back upstream, the Saône is on the left and the Rhône is on the right. Downstream, the river is called Rhône.

The confluence river museum was closed unfortunately, but it was nice from the outside.

After admiring the huge amount of water flowing through the city, we wandered back toward the tramway to find an indoor/outdoor mall for some shade. This large complex is modern looking, with all kinds of stores and restaurants. Lunch at la criée consisted of salmon and tuna tartare “burgers”, spiced with wasabi mayonnaise. Like eating a sushi sandwich!

Back at the Goldschmidt conference, we saw an orange man statue made in the style similar to the brown and blue bears of Lyon and Denver. And some crazy penguins! Clare for scale, both with her crystal dress.

We have a lovely view from our hotel window, overlooking a (hidden) highway and river, then to steep land containing a lot of buildings. Downtown Lyon would be in a different direction.

Sunday we explored around the hotel and conference area.

First, we wandered along the Rhône River, just outside our hotel. Several swans greeted us on our journey. When we crossed back, we visited Parc Tête d’Or (head of gold – a golden sculpture of Christ’s head is buried somewhere in the park).

The Congress Center is adjacent to our hotel. We were greeted by a familiar looking bear!

Last night’s reception at the conference was fun. LOTS of people, most of whom we did not know. But Clare cleverly wore her crystal dress, which gained attention from women scientists all over the room who wanted to find one like it(or a scientific and pretty similar one). The crowd seemed more diverse than previous Goldschmidt conferences, happily, more people from other countries and continents. Seemed like about the same proportion of men to women, unfortunately.

Our travel day was long, with an 8 hour layover in Heathrow Airport, London. Not recommended! But now we are in Lyon, where we stay for another four nights and the Goldschmidt Conference (geochemistry).

Our plane, Boeing 777, at DEN (Denver International Airport).

A bunch of HUGE planes (Airbus A380) in a row at London Heathrow Airport.