We woke up early and fled Lausanne Switzerland as quickly as we could, and cruised on over to Lyon France. Lyon is a big city, so naturally we had to choose just a couple of things to see and do. The first stop was the Basilica of Notre Dame. The Basilica is a huge church which oddly enough allows you to take photograph's inside, no flash of course, but you can take the pictures nonetheless. Most churches make you buy their postcards to have a picture of the inside :)
The Basilica of Notre Dame in Lyon, France.
A view over the city, it was quite misty.
The scooter has been the best purchase I have EVER made. I can't even begin to think what our life would be like without the scoot, from riding to school, to getting around London, to travelling around places, this little baby has been a life saver.
Again, the architecture was amazing. It is interesting for me to contrast the extravagance of these churches to the simplicity of the churches of my faith, very different.
I loved this smirk on his schnirk.
David slaying Goliath.
The decor inside is ornate, intricate, and garish.
Just to show how big this place was, we aren't even photographing 1/2 of the building and the piggies and I look like ants.
We left the Basilica and headed down the hill a short bit to some ancient Roman ruins. This is a picture of the Collisseum.
Pillar remnants
Sitting in the arena.
What! A stage? I.Must.Perform. Love this girl, she put on a show for all who were sitting and watching.
Perplexed
Little brother had to join in on the performance.
Ending shape.
There was a museum next to the Roman ruins where many of the artifacts that they have collected were displayed. I am a big time lover of art and wrote a paper for my minor studies at the University on the portrayal of women in late Medieval art. I love everything about art from sculpture, to painting, to mosaics, to tapestry, to all of the performing arts. Love it, love it.
Ancient coins.
The Pink One checking out the goods :)
The Pink One pointing out the goods. The picture is blurry, but I thought it was too funny to not include.
Mosaic flooring.
Notice anything interesting about this mosaic flooring?
After we left the Roman ruins and museum we headed to the Lyon French resistance museum. Lyon was a city that resisted against the Nazi invasion during WWII. The museum had the stories of many people in the town who resisted the Nazi's and what their fate was when caught. It also had Nazi torture chambers in the museum. In College I took a class on Hitler and Stalin, 1 class, 1 semester, 2 people studied. Pretty complex individuals. What the Hubby and I decided was that having not lived in Europe at this time and during this war, we could never understand how it all happened. We can't even begin to wrap our brains around how 1 small country was able to occupy other countries and exterminate so many people. I can't judge anyone, because I know that there had to have been a lot of fear and confusion at the time, but how did this happen?
I left feeling confused, angry, and in tears (big surprise). I have such a deeply rooted appreciation for people who stand up for what they believe is right and are even willing to risk their own lives. Nothing worse than a coward. I love the T.V. show "What Would You Do?" for the simple fact that it shows something odd happening and courageous people who stand up for what is right. I often wonder what I would have done? Would I have been one of the people who saved a group of Jewish children and hid them in my home? or Would I have sent my Jewish neighbours packing so as to keep the Nazi's happily away from me, my family, and my town? I hope it would be the first.
Visiting museums like this helps me to see the strength and sacrifice of other people not too long ago and helps me feel the strength within to do what is right. Everyone in this world knows right from wrong, but unfortunately we sometimes look away so as to not get "involved." Doing the right thing hasn't always been the popular thing, but when you do what is right you have no guilt or regret. I am sure that the people who sacrificed themselves for the greater good would have done it the same way if they could have done it again. One story shared was of a woman who smuggled Jewish children out, was caught, brought to a town square in Germany and decapitated. Wow. I admire her strength and sacrifice.
And when we left I wasn't the only person in tears, the Blue One was tired and finished.
On that happy note, we headed to our hotel. The lady who checked us into our room was lovely and took a liking to the little ones. The Pink One and I came back downstairs to get some ice. All of the ice buckets were taken and so the nice lady brought us a glass to fill with ice. When she came walking around the desk she asked me if she could hold the Pink One. Keep in mind here that the Pink One is almost 6, but I told her that would be fine. When she picked her up and cuddled her she told me that she had always wanted to have children, but she never had the opportunity to marry or have kids and now she is too old. I was gutted. You could see the yearning in every ounce of this woman's body as she held the Pink One. So once again I was in tears as I headed up to my room.
I think that sometimes we take for granted the simple blessings we have in our lives. Today was very sobering for me. I take so many things in my life for granted, and even though I often complain about having less here in the UK, I still have many things that people would give anything to have, starting with a family. I am one lucky momma to be living with freedom's, children, and food. We opted out of Dachau for the simple reason of not being able to explain the horror's to the Pink One yet. But we will definitely find a time to take her to teach her about what people did to each other, and to show her just how blessed she is. Let us not forget that genocide is still taking place in many countries today.
I enjoyed Lyon, but it ranks low on my list of favourite places visited thus far on our road trip.
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