IFLA 2014

Toulouse, France

We began our 17-day trip by landing in Toulouse, to stay with a friend and get our feet wet in the country. This turned out to be one of the best decisions we made, because it allowed us to decompress and acclimate to the country while still being able to go around and see a lot of sights.

Day Trip - Albi Village

Our friend Lucy offered us several options for a day trip, and we ended up going to Albi almost randomly. Any of the trips would have been marvelous, and while you are sometimes tempted to start slapping people when they say "Anything's fine with me" when offered a choice, it is true that we didn't know enough to make an informed decision, and were simply open to anything. 

IFLA - Lyon, France

Due to travel times, we started IFLA right away after arriving in Lyon. It made for a bit of a hectic ride at first, as we were figuring out the city, unpacking, and navigating the fact that our hotel was a solid hour (bus, metro, metro, bus) away from the conference site. 

Day Session - Bibliotheque Municipale de Lyon

I attended an off-site one-day session on Rare Book and Preservation studies and qualifications at the Lyon City Library, which was the only day where m'colleague and I were separated during the trip. Although we had been happily waffling to various presentations and discussions, I felt a really strong desire to attend this session, and I'm infinitely glad that I did.

Library Visits - Dijon, France

We selected the Dijon / Burgundy tour, a short train-ride away from Lyon. 

Lyon

Some scenes of Lyon from our days off.

Avignon, France

For the final part of our trip, after IFLA, we went to Avignon for a few days in order to wind down, enjoy a few more sights, and just roll around France.