Day 4 in Lyon

 [13 April]

Today was museum day, and the two we chose to visit couldn't have been more different. While their subject matter, layout and ease of navigating were unique in their own way, it was how they made us feel that struck a chord. 

After lounging at home for coffee and breakfast, we left the apartment late morning. We walked down to Place Bellecour, took the Metro line A to Perrache (the other major train station in Lyon), then switched to line D to reach the Monplaisir Lumière stop.

entrance to the Metro

down down down to line D

notice the large holes in the wall separating the two lines; opens things up nicely we thought

All we had to do was walk across the street from the Metro exit, pass through a small market devoted to selling vinyl records and CDs, and into the Musée Lumière. 

Located in the Lumière family home, the museum is small but incredibly well laid out - all the signage was in both French and English. We wandered through the family rooms, stunningly recreated/maintained, and through the various exhibits detailing the origins of cinema. There are many examples of early cameras, both for still shots and for creating moving images as well as information on many of the numerous pioneers of all nationalities. 

the winter room

ceiling in the winter room

For us the best part was watching a number of shorts created by the Lumière brothers: children acrobats, staged slapstick scenes, as well as shorts from around the world - basically tiny movies, some that had us laughing out loud like children and others we found truly awesome.

The brothers were also pioneers in photography as well and patented the autochrome color photography process. These have to be seen to be believed!

Mark Twain reading 1908

Anna Iwaszkiewicz and Maria Wysocka, Poland, 1909

Louis Lumière c. 1910

Perhaps the largest collection of autochromes in the world (some 72,000 taken between 1909 and 1931) is the Alfred Kahn collection in the eponymous museum in Paris. We hope to get there later in this trip.

The Institut-Lumière is next door. Housed in part of the original factory complex it's open to the public free of charge.

If get the opportunity this is one place you shouldn't miss. Check out the Lumière Museum.

Returning to the Metro we reversed ourselves back to Perrache; we had to cross the tracks (a bit tricky) and get to the platform for Tram no. 2 which would take us to our next museum: the Resistance and Deportation History Center.

Just one stop over the river from Perrache station, we found ourselves in the central courtyard of the History Center. Located in what was once a military medical school, this was a sobering experience.

toward the entrance

looking back to the street entrance

Once inside we showed our city card, had our tickets and then bags checked -- like so many places in France these days but really quite a perfunctory process. There was a handy locker room nearby where we could drop off our coats, bags, etc.

Since all the interpretive signage is in French only, we were given the option of an audioguide or a very large binder of the museum layout in English. We rarely use audioguides -- and Rick Steves even notes the ones at this museum are buggy. The binder was quite a tome indeed!

We headed off upstairs (where the tour begins) and were both struck by the sheer volume of incredibly detailed information offered in this place. It's very well laid out with a seemingly endless stream of stories and the occasional video of memories by those who participated in the resistance movement during those trying years. 

There is also a 45-minute film of excerpts from trial of SS officer Klaus Barbie, the "butcher of Lyon." ("Not recommended for children under 12.") In fact, this building was once the headquarters for the Gestapo. We opted not to watch it, feeling it would be too depressing.

Jean Moulin (1899-1943), resistance leader in Lyon

As we gathered up our things to leave, Susan stopped in front of one of the staff members who was helping to direct people just entering the museum. She was visibly choked up and in a loud whisper told him in French how excellent the exhibition is but how terribly sad it made her feel. As we walked outside I knew exactly how she felt:

Visit to the Resistance and Deportation Museum.

If we were to do this day over I would have suggested we visit the museums in reverse order, ending with the gaiety and lightheartedness of the Lumière outlook on life.

Back to the tram stop we took it in reverse, getting off at Perrache where we switched to Tram 1. We rode it to Libertè, which was just a couple of blocks from the Pont Wilson and our apartment.

We couldn't help but notice the "bar boats" along the Rhone were pretty active and there were quite a few folk strolling along the quai this Sunday afternoon.

And we couldn't help notice the small group of women on the other side of the bridge; the contrast in outfits was striking.

Once back on the right bank of the Rhone it was a short block or so to our apartment. That evening I baked chicken accompanied by rice with leftover fresh green beans.

Tomorrow we hope to finish our 72 hour city card with a trip to the Musée des Beaux-Arts and perhaps tracking down one or two of the famous wall murals!

Day 3 in Lyon

[12 April] 

Contrary to our usual morning routine here in France we actually left the apartment midmorning rather than hang around until early afternoon. But we had our reasons for breaking with tradition. 

First up was a stop at a nearby boulangerie to pick some fresh bread and Susie wanted to try brioche with chopped pralines rose, a local speciality (the pralines not necessarily the brioche).

After our bread run we stopped in at our favorite U Express for a few essentials, dropped them off at the apartment and then it was back out for more "stuff."

Next up was a quick trip to the Nespresso store. It was a short walk to nearby Place des Jacobins although we had to wend our way through the hordes of people out on a beautiful Saturday morning in the big city.

look at all that coffee!

Needless to say the store was hoppin' as well.

With two sleeves of Napoli coffee in hand we headed in the direction of Place Bellecour and our next stop G. Detou. One of the go-to food pantry shops in Paris, we were pleasantly surprised to discover they have a shop in Lyon! We were in search of Marcona almonds for snacking.

Once the almonds had joined the Nespresso pods in our shopping bag we meandered back to our apartment. But we weren't done yet! As we were passing a large wine shop we decided to pop in and ended up with a liter bottle of Suze! Then back out onto rue Emile Zola, a very pleasant walking street full of small shops and the occasional food stop. 

As we neared our apartment we passed a small confectionary shop, Gastronomie. Susan bought a small bag of the popular local pralines rose, essentially pink caramelized, candy coated almonds. They seem to be in almost every specialty food shop we see and are used as tart fillings, crushed up and added to brioche and more.

they look like burnt peanuts don't they?

Oh, and you might be interested to know that the bag of Marcona almonds from Detou is one kilo (2.2 lbs.), and costs €12,30 (~$13.75/$6.25/lb. Amazon (US) sells them for about $25.00 for 2.2 lbs.

We relaxed at home during midday before heading out for our guided tour of the traboules of Croix-Rousse, the former silk workers neighborhood and ending with a visit to a silk screen workshop.

We walked up our street and took the Metro line C up to Place de la Croix Rousse where we would meet up with our tour guide. I should point out that navigating the Metro has a bit of learning curve, but it seemed clean and is certainly fast.

Place de la Croix-Rousse

Susan and I arrived a bit early so we found a bench in the shade while we waited for our group. We soon spotted our guide, Dorothée, and checked in with her. Before long other members of the group ambled in: a couple from Great Britain, several Americans, two German fellows, and several French folk. 

The tour began right in the Place beneath the statue of Joseph-Marie Jacquard. Jacquard had a defining role in the establishment and promotion of the silk industry in Lyon, having created the Jacquard loom.

Just to give you a sense of the tour. . .

From the Place we walked a short distance to a lovely view of eastern Lyon from Place Bellevue. 

This particular Place and its surrounding neighborhood is on top of the largest hills in the city. It's also the location of the the Gros Caillou, or "big pebble." This stone is a landmark in the community and once represented the  boundary between the 1st and 4th arrondissements. It also seemed to have an odd effect on people around it.

After talking about the beginnings of the silk industry we then began our move downhill -- and downhill it was for the rest of the tour in fact. 

We stopped briefly at the Place Colbert where Dorothée informed us that the enormous church -- Saint Bernard -- overlooking the Place was closed up in 1891 due to instability and finally deconsecrated in 1999.  (You can just barely make out the church behind all the undergrowth in the above photo.)

By the way, if you want to follow the tour online there is an excellent online guide right here, that pretty much covers the same ground we did.

The Place was a small hive of activity including a small group of men playing petanque.

Leaving the Place we continued downhill entering our first traboule, into the Cour des Voraces.

the entrance to the traboule

the Cour

The traboule continued downhill in a labyrinth of entryways, steep steps, short passageways and nearly hidden doorways until we passed out onto the street before passing back inside the traboule. Back outside we found ourselves among a large group of revelers reveling in something and having a fine time of it.

A few moments later we landed in Place Chardonnet. Named after Louis-Marie-Hilaire Bernigard, count of Chardonnet (no, not the wine), he was the inventor of artificial silk.

Walking down from the Place past an imaginative staircase, the group made its way under the kind direction of our guide to Passage Thiaffait.

street art is huge here

the Passage

Once outside the Passage we were led to the silk workshop where we were given a demonstration of the process used in silk screening. 

creativity seems everywhere in this neighborhood

With the tour ending here, we said au revoir to Dorothée and the group disbursed, each of us finding our way on our own journey in Lyon. As for us we made our way to the nearby Hôtel de Ville in search of the Metro. The Place de Terreaux in front of the Hotel was jam-packed with people and one set of musicians after another playing a variety of different music. 

It was also here that the massive Bartholdi Fountain is located and we had to pay our respects to Fred.

From the Place we found our way in fits and starts to the nearest Metro and home. The tour had lasted just about 2 hours and we were due for some down time. That evening I made pasta with chopped fresh green beans for dinner. We enjoyed relaxing for the rest of the evening, discussing the day's events and thinking about what we might want to do on Sunday.

Tomorrow: The Lumeire and the Resistance and Deportation Museums perhaps? We'll see.