Then the guided tour started:

LHC was built on earlier smaller rings that got bigger over time

I still remember learning in school how this larger ring was being built, the biggest in the world, and one day would be turned on

this culminated in Dr Higgs having his boson found and confirmed to exist, what a great achievement

and the best part of the tour was to be able to observe the control room that was indeed being used for real science that day (sometimes LHC is shut down for upgrades or maintenance):

Then they had some small science show/activites that were no essential, but since I was all the way there, I figured I'd check out anyway: