May 19
Dear Liza,
Lyon keeps surprising me! The other day we intended to have a simple museum visit and ended up climbing twenty flights of stairs! And right back up the Hill That Prays.
Let me start from the beginning.
The Musée de la Histoire de Lyon is housed in a Renaissance-era mansion in Old Town called the Gadagne. This museum is not on the hill, but on the flat by the River Saône.
The museum is spread over five floors of the mansion, with wonderful exhibits that tell the story of Lyon from pre-history to recent years.
There were, to put it mildly, STAIRS. These Renaissance standard, stone-carved spiral things went up and up… when I finally stopped to take this picture, we were on the next to the top floor.
The graphic at the top shows all the spiral stairs, but they look cuter than they feel.
But the exhibits are top notch, with sophisticated projections showing how the rivers Rhône and Saône caused the city to develop as it did over the millennia.
There was also an extensive history of the silk manufacture and lives of the workers.
This history of silk workers rights continued into the WWII era, with worker’s and women’s rights campaigns. It was fascinating to see what I think of as current events played out in a history museum.
By the time we had reached the current day, we needed some sustenance. We took the elevator down (whew!) and met Grandpa Nelson at a nearby café.
More on that, and the continuing adventure, tomorrow!
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 