I frequently notice red squirrels when we visit the Parc de la Tête d’Or. The squirrels are not afraid of humans and carry on foraging as runners pass by only a meter away.

A red squirrel eating a nut in the park in Lyon, France

We watched quietly this weekend as a man hand fed two red squirrels. Each squirrel approached slowly and carefully before standing upright and stretching out a small paw to take a small nut. Then a quick scurry back to safety before eating and repeating the rewarding routine.

Lyon’s largest park, Parc de la Tête d’Or, contains a set of beautiful greenhouses. These large glass houses contain plants needing a warmer, more controlled, environment than Lyon’s weather can offer.

Greenhouses in Parc de la Tête d'Or, Lyon

Underneath the glass, a banana tree seemed to thrive alongside numerous other tall trees reaching up towards the curving roof.

Looking up at a banana tree

Bunch of bananas hanging from the tree

Below is a short film of the greenhouse. As usual the footage was taken with my small point and shoot camera, and edited with iMovie. A High Definition edition is also available.

Thanks to Vidian for the soundtrack. The track Flowers Die is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial via ccMixter.

Inside the greenhouses at Parc de la Tête d'Or

Spikes, flowers, and palm leaves