Day 6 - Sunday, May 18, 2014

On Sunday morning, we took a tour of Old Lyon, which was very interesting. Our guide explained the history behind the name of Lyon, which at one time was the Roman city called Lugdunum. Our guide mentioned that this was a city that appeared in the comics of Asterix, of which I am a fan, and own several at home, which I have pulled out to read with my oldest kids. Our guide also took us through traboules, which are passageways through buildings, and can be accessed via doors that look like normal doors to a building. It was interesting that the culture at the time was to not flaunt wealth, and thus the buildings all had similar facades, and the courtyards were inside, behind the building fronts. Apparently, in the 1960’s there was an effort to preserve the old town, but our guide showed us a building where the façade had been torn down before it was banned.

In the afternoon, I ventured south, via Metro and tram, in order to visit the Museum of the Occupation & Resistance. During World War II, Lyon was part of Vichy France, which was essentially a government set up in support of Germany. The museum talked about the efforts of the resistance, led by Jean Moulin, who parachuted in to organize the resistance in this part of France. The museum was also full of personal stories of those who had lived in Lyon during that time. It was interesting to note that the stories ranged from teenagers who just accepted air raid sirens as a good excuse to get out of school, to a woman who worked at the Gestapo office and would memorize names to pass on to the resistance. The museum is at the location of the Gestapo office during that time.

The above shows a printing press that was used by the resistance.