I attended my first Congress (conference) of the European College of Equine Internal Medicine (ECEIM) this year in Lyon, France. The locations rotate around Europe and I was delighted for an excuse to head to Lyon, as I’ve never been before. David and Sally went to Denmark to see family so this was a solo trip.
The conference itself was fantastic and the ECECIM put on quite a show. Both the medicine residents from UCD were along (one presenting a poster) and I met some Irish vets I'd never met, met new colleagues from around the world (some of whose names I recognized and others totally new to me), and even saw some US colleagues I hadn't seen in years (in one case, 15 years!).
Opening reception was a low-key affair at the beautiful Palais de la Bourse, which we followed up with nearby dinner due to heavy rain. Gala dinner the following night at the conference center included a horse show (dancing horses in costumes, one wore wings for example, and another had a full suit of lights) and a band kept folks up and dancing until well into the next day. Lunches were passed canapé and pear juice (no sandwiches and chips here!). The horse show was super cool but also somewhat terrifying as hundreds of vets held their breath, hoping no horse would slip/fall on the hard tile floors of the conference center.
The conference center itself was in a beautiful location (also randomly had a huge California-esque bear out front), a huge facility wedged between the Rhône and Parc de la Tête d’Or. My hotel was immediately adjacent, was quite affordable, and actually had a lovely view. The park was massive with endless trails and ponds and even a botanical garden, a velodrome, a mini train, and a free zoo. It was filled with families and runners and walkers (side note: so many Australian shepherds in Lyon! Only 1 French bulldog spotted). The Rhône on the other side was gorgeous and the water was really high and mesmerizingly fast as it hurried past.
The final night after the conference our contingent of Irish vets had dinner in Vieux Lyon/the old town. It was a relatively traditional meal and so lovely to stroll the ancient streets. We then met up with others from the conference to watch the final Rugby World Cup match (which neither France nor Ireland were in, but was being played outside of Paris).
The following day I was on my own to explore Lyon. I started with a walking tour of Presqu’île (the isthmus between the Rhône and the Seune) and Vieux Lyon. The tour guide was great and I learned a lot about this ancient formerly Roman city, its silk industry on Croix-Rousse hill, and how the Lumière family started cinematography here around the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.
We saw loads of cool street art (including David Bowie's eyes, shown below), and spent time hearing about the historical figures of Lyon featured in the Fresque des Lyonnais (a mural that covers the entire side of a building, highlighting the many famous folks who hail from Lyon).
We learned a lot about the traboules, covered walkways that create a complicated network of shortcuts through Lyon. There are maybe 500 of them and they are mostly open to the public even though they go to private homes. First used to move silk down to the river, later used to avoid and resist the Nazis in WWII. Some have multiple charming courtyards along the way.
Like many cities, there was a tax on windows a couple of centuries ago so if you look closely many building have a handful of painted/fake windows. Also like many cities, religious disagreements play a large part in its history. Most of the Catholic statues have been beheaded around the city by the Protestants (and remain thus beheaded!).
After the walking tour I first checked out the beautifully complex astronomical clock (old and beautiful but sadly not functioning) in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cathedral then headed up the Fourvière hill to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière to both admire the basilica as well as the views. I could see the Alps in spite of slightly cloudy weather, and even glimpsed Mount Blanc, which I sat at the base on in March when I was in Chamonix! The top of the hill is also home to an old Roman forum, which was fun to wander around in. Then so. many. stairs. to come back down!
Finally I enjoyed a delicious lunch on one of the squares back down in View Lyon (pumpkin brûlée, anyone?) with a very friendly waiter who had coincidentally once lived in Dublin, and then a long walk of my own around the city.
I would love to go back with David and Sally, and also explore nearby wine country!
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