Day 18, Wednesday, July 22, 2026

 Our first full day in Lyon began with a wonderful breakfast buffet at l'Hotel de l'Abbaye.  You can't beat the convenience.

It's going to be tough to give up these breakfasts.  The tartine with butter is my favorite.  Back to Cheerios and OJ on Friday!

After breakfast we took a taxi to the Resistance and Deportation Museum.  We have visited Resistance museums in Grenoble and Fontaine de Vaucluse on other trips and each seems to focus on a different aspect of life in France during the war.  They are all worth visiting, and I believe there are over 50 such museums in France alone. One of the last displays I encountered in the this museum was the quote from George Santayana, "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."  So true.

This one focused on how the historical events prior to the German occupation impacted the citizens of Lyon, and how they reacted.  Lyon was declared an open city at the beginning of the war so it did not suffer the devastation that many other cities did.  It was liberated on September 5, 1944, and it welcome General DeGaulle on September 14, 1944.

The museum is located in the buildings that were originally a medical college, and when the war began it became a hospital.  After the war it returned to being a medical college and it became the home of the Resistance and Deportation Museum in 1965.

The first room we entered had a huge wall display of film posters that dealt with WW II.  Clearly French culture cannot forget this tragic period and how it affected it's citizens.

Leaving this room, we then entered a theatre which focused on the trial of Klaus Barbie, otherwise known as "the Butcher of Lyon" who personally tortured Jews and members of the resistance while he was head of the Gestapo in Lyon.

When the war ended the United States intelligence services employed him for his anti-communist efforts and aided his escape to Bolivia, where he advised the dictatorial regime on how to repress opposition through torture. In 1983, the United States apologized to France for helping him escape to Bolivia to avoid an outstanding arrest warrant.

He was discovered to be living in Bolivia in 1972, and finally captured and extradited to France in 1983 and only brought to trial in 1987.  He was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison where he died in 1991.  

The film focused on the testimony of many Holocaust survivors, including author and professor Elie Weisel.  Some of the witnesses were as young as 13 when they endured his brutality.

The film was numbing.  

The rest of the museum which was filled with thousands of exhibits that detailed how life in Lyon changed with before and during the war. The first forms of Resistance were simple graffiti by individuals, then underground newspapers were published, eventually sabotage, and ultimately aiding the Allied soldiers.

Lyon's town hall displaying the Nazi flag.

A vandalized synagogue 

School children awaiting deportation

Jean Moulin, appointed by DeGaulle in 1942 to lead the Resistance in occupied France.  Moulin met with DeGaulle in London and had returned to France by parachuting into his native country.  The museum had a piece of Moulin's parachute on display.  I guess that's like having the bones of a saint on display in a church.

These are the clothes of a Auschwitz survivor who kept his clothes when he escaped so that people would believe what he endured.  The symbol next to the numbers indicate is crime (red=political) and the F indicates he was from France.

Leaving the museum we returned to our hotel for an afternoon of rest and relaxation.  Before going to dinner we took a cab to see the Mur des Canuts (the wall of the silk workers) which is a huge trompe-l'oiel painting that was first created in 1987 honoring the silk workers of Lyon.  

This evolving mural depicts the Croix-Rousse district—home to the "Canuts," the silk workers of the 19th century. It features the neighborhood's characteristic buildings, with their tall windows and 4-meter-high ceilings designed to accommodate weaving looms. Several nods to Lyonnais culture are also included, such as a small Guignol puppet theater and "Vélo'v," Lyon's self-service bike-sharing system.

Each person depicting in the painting was a real silk worker that year, and the painting has been updated periodically to accurately represent how each of the workers has aged.  We probably stared at the painting for more than 20 minutes.

Leaving the Canuts, we had a long walk downhill through a variety of neighborhoods before finally reaching our dinner restaurant, Carmelo's. We were late for our reservation so even though they did not hold our reservation they gave us a table.  We had a delicious meal of melon and prosciutto antipasti, and home made pasta stuffed with ricotta and spinach.  The decor was very reminiscent of Joe Tecce's in Boston's North End.  

Fazzoletti Ricotta e Spinaci

We were late for our reservation, but fortunately they gave us a table.  We had a delicious meal of melon and prosciutto antipasti, and home made pasta stuffed with ricotta and spinach.  The decor was very reminiscent of Joe Tecce's in Boston's North End.  

From Carmelo's we continued our walk to the parking garage where our car was been since we first arrived in Lyon on Tuesday.  Along the way, we came upon the Place des Jacobins where a large group was dancing.  We were too tired to join in, they were clearly having fun, but we did watch..  Our  iPhone says we walked over 4 miles today, my feet and back say we walked further

Looking up from the Pont Napoleon toward the Croix-Rousse district, home of the Canuts.

With sore feet and full bellies we were happy to be back at l'Hotel de l'Abbaye. We'd love to stay a few more days, but tomorrow we fly home. We've had 18 wonderful days in France, but it's time to say au devoir and á bientôt.