During World War II, Lyon was a center of activity for the French Resistance. There’s a museum here dedicated to the “Underground” called the Resistance and Deportation History Center. Should be interesting. But first, it’s time for lunch!
Lunch at Pizza Pino
We had gone for a pretty extensive walk this morning, so for lunch, we decided to keep it simple and stay close to our hotel. There was an Italian restaurant just around the corner, so that’s where we ate.
Lyon may be famous for its cuisine, but apparently Lyonnaise folks really go for Italian food. The place was packed. Lunch was inexpensive and very tasty. It was exactly what we were looking for. (See details here).
After lunch, I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to get to the “Centre de l’Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation” — the Resistance and Deportation History Center. Sure, I could take a taxi, but it’s more fun to try and use public transportation.
To get there, it looks like I should walk to the Metro (subway) station nearby, then take the subway for a short distance. After getting off the Metro train, I’ll get on a “tram” that goes right by my destination. I can buy one ticket that’s good for three hours on the Metro and the tram, so I guess I’ll put the public transportation here to the test.
The Lyon Metro
After resting and hanging around for awhile, I took off. The nearest Metro station was only a couple of blocks away. I managed to buy the ticket I wanted from a machine that had instructions in lots of languages. (Well, I think it was the ticket I wanted. I bought some sort of ticket. – That was all I knew for sure).
The next part was pretty easy. In this Metro station, trains only go in two directions, so I had a fifty-fifty chance of picking the right one. Metro signs were clearly marked, so it was easy to tell which train was the right one.
As always, in subways in France, the wait for the train was only a few minutes. I boarded the train, and figured out that I only had to ride it for a couple of stops. Approximately three minutes later, I was getting off the train.
This is where I was supposed to not take a Metro “train,” but find a “tram” and take it instead. Sure enough, there was a sign very clearly pointing out that Metro trains were in one direction. Trams were in the opposite direction. Following the signs, I came to a place that was just like a Metro station, except it was for trams.
The same principle as before applied here: trams only went in two directions, so I had a fifty-fifty chance of getting on the right one. While Metro trains were pretty big and were underground, trams were small and were above ground. They were electric. They were kind of neat, actually.
I boarded the tram, rode or for five or six stops, and got out about half a block away from the museum. Man, that was pretty darn easy. Why can’t we figure out ways to get around in our cities back home this easily?
It had clouded up and a light rain had started to fall. Just a drizzle. At first, I couldn’t find my way into the place, and there wasn’t anyone around. It was still pretty close to the lunch hour, so I was thinking that maybe they were shut down for lunch. Finally I found a guy sitting in an office. I inquired about the museum.
I had been close, but I’d been in the wrong place. Hey, it was confusing. The guy was nice, and he pointed me in the right direction. I bought a ticket and went inside. Right away I could tell this was going to be intense. The gray, drizzly day outside set the tone for what was waiting for me inside. A shudder went down my spine.
To be continued…
The Featured Image is a Tram in Lyon. Credit: AlfvanBeem/Wikimedia Commons
