France

Our final stop on our 3-week journey through Europe was France. We spent 3 days in Lyon, the third-largest city in France and a place home to plenty of great restaurants and nightlife spots!

On our way to Lyon from Geneva, we stopped at Chamonix and ascended the very tall and terrifying gondola to the Aiguille du Midi, a mountain more than 12,000 feet tall! For context, this is nearly 2 times as tall as the previous Tegelberg mountain that we visited earlier in the trip. My fear of heights was not useful during this stop.

First on the itinerary was a visit to the Lyon Cathedral, which was full of beautiful depictions of the Virgin Mary. We also stopped at the famous Roman theaters; built in 15 BC, they still host performances and shows, even today! These stone steps also had a great view of the city. We later visited the Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, a world-renowned infectious disease research center with a BSL-4 laboratory; this was an amazing learning experience, and it was fun hearing about the current advances being made in microbiology.

On our last day, we walked alongside the Rhone and through the old town of Lyon. We visited our last museum of the trip, the Silk Museum, and finished off our trip with a fancy dinner at the Brasserie Georges.