Hey... where'd everyone go?

Did you know that the whole city of Lyon shuts down on Sundays? (Of course not, how could you?) Nothing is open. Not grocery stores, not shopping malls, not even the pharmacies. This means, that if you need milk, cigarettes or tampons, you have to either buy them ahead of time, or wait for Monday to come around. Not only is nothing open, the city appears to be deserted. It's a ghost town. No one walking on the streets, not even beggars asking for change!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous out last Sunday, so my roommate Eimear and I decided to go to the nearby Parc de Tete d'Or. I had never been before so I didn't really know what to expect. I've seen parks before, so I thought I knew what I was in for. Maybe some grass, benches a couple of people walking around, perhaps a pond and some sort of playground. Hell to the no! Not here.


Parc de Tete d'Or is where the whole city comes on Sundays when everything is closed. And I can say the whole city because I'm pretty sure the entire population of Lyon could fit comfortably in this enormous park. If they don't feel like visiting the greenhouse, they can rent a boat and canoe around the lake. Or if that doesn't tickle their fancy, they can sit at one of the many lakeside restaurants and watch the ducks swim by. Or if their not into ducks, they can go see the giraffes, elephants and lemurs at the FREE ZOO! Yup. Xanadu is real, ladies, and it's officially a 15 minute bike ride from my apartment.

Some pics from my first visit to Parc de Tete d'Or