I just returned from a brief but enjoyable trip to Lyon, France (Lyon is pronounced “LEE-OWN”). I attended a conference on computer arithmetic. Mom did not come with me this time — she visited Lyon with me for a similar computer conference about eight years ago.
Lyon is known for its great restaurants, and they aren’t very expensive. On Monday night, for instance, I had an excellent three-course dinner (chicken salad, salmon with rice and vegetables, and apple crisp for desert) for about $20.
Also of interest in Lyon is a striking, newly-constructed science and culture museum, known as the Musee de Confluences (“Museum at the Confluence”, named for its location at the confluence of the Rhine and Saone rivers). Its exhibit on “origins” is one of the best displays I have seen, including meteorites, fossils, dinosaurs and more.
Here are a few photos.
Jacobin’s Square and fountain (one of many)
Jazz musicians perform at Jacobin’s square
Lyon’s just-opened Musee de Confluences (does it look like a bird or a ship?)
A 630-kg (1388 lb) meteorite, discovered in Algeria in 1967
Skeleton of a 155 million year old Camarasaur, which grew to 60 feet in length
One billion year old Stromatolies fossils, found in China
One of numerous bridges over the Rhine River in Lyon