The Bravery

I've been wanting to write about the Resistance fighters who I've learned about here in Lyon.  The bravery of these people fills me with awe and admiration. I've been intrigued by the stories of how writing and publishing were all a big part of the network of the Resistance Movement.  I did some research at the Museum of Resistance and Deportation and also used the internet to learn more about the stories behind the names I've found on my walks around Lyon. 

Betty Albrecht was a political activist who wrote a book called The Sexual Problem about women's right to contraception and abortion. During WWII, she worked with the COMBAT movement.  COMBAT was the name of the underground newspaper the group published and distributed.  She also hosted clandestine meetings of Resisters. She was arrested and tortured and died in prison.  She is one of six women who are named to the order of French Resistance Fighter.

 

Gustave Andre and his wife, Suzanne Brachet, were both teachers who joined the Resistance Movement.  They also worked with the COMBAT group.  They helped publish the newspaper, and also hid people who were being hunted by Nazis.  They produced false papers for people and hid equipment like weapons and radios.  When Gustave was tortured in Montluc Prison, he was admired for his strength. He would not give up information and he helped others through their misery by sharing the old fables of La Fontaine with his fellow prisoners. He was shot and killed with 3 others when Lyon was close to being liberated. 

When the war was nearly over, the Germans evacuated a building on Rue Tronchet.  It was a school, but the Germans used it as a military hospital.  Neighbors congregated at the building, thinking that food and supplies that might have been left behind would be distributed.  Most of the people that congregated were women and children.  When the Germans heard about the people meeting outside the school, they returned and shot into the crowd of 300, killing 60 people and injuring others. 

Victoria Nicollet and her husband Henri ran a grocery store in  Vieux Lyon.  They joined the Resistance and held clandestine meetings at their home.  They also routed mail and distributed leaflets and newspapers.  Victoria was arrested and sent to the women's concentration camp, Ravensbruck, in Germany.  She did not return.  

Lola Izraelski's family were Jews from Poland.  They moved to Paris and later to Lyon.  They ran a sewing shop in Lyon.  Many members of her family joined the Resistance movement. The Gestapo were looking for her brother when they burst into their home.  They shot and killed Lola.  Her brother was shot, but escaped out a window.  Another relative, possibly an aunt, was arrested. 

The Gestapo used Montluc Prison as a place for interrogating and torturing prisoners before they were sent to concentration camps.  15,000 people were held at the camp during the war.  900 prisoners were executed there.  

Dolly Argaud-Harrison hid Jewish kids in a house in Vic-Sur-Seze. She was arrested and put in Montluc prison.  When France was liberated, she worked to help identify the bodies of Resistance fighters who had been killed.  She later worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. 

This is an old mimeograph machine that was used to publish Underground Newspapers and tracts.  These publications were important tools of the Resistance, helping to keep people informed about the actions of the Gestapo and the Vichy government as well as working to recruit new fighters and spreading the movement. At the Resistance and Deportation museum here in Lyon, I watched a video where Resister Lucie Aubrac said that the movement had 2 weapons.  The first one was "refusal" and "reporting" was the second.  

Le Thanksgiving

 We went back to Culina Hortus for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was delightful.  The waiter remembered us from our last visit.  The sommelier recommended a splendid wine after giving us a little lecture about the different wine regions in France.  We ate lots of truffle-y mushroomy kinds of foods with foams and flowers. 

Today we worked on our hand turkeys.  Our theme this year is Turkey's Favorite Movie or Song.  The turkeys are still coming in, so check back later and there might be some more on this PADLET. 

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you have stuffing?  What about green bean casserole?  Those are two of my favorites that were missed, but other than that problem, Thanksgiving in France has been AOK.

The Afternoon in Vienne

Temple of Augustus and Livia

Cloister of Saint-Andre le Bas Abbey

Head in the Cloister

 We spent the afternoon in Vienne on Saturday. 

Fun Fact from Wikipedia: Emperor Augustus banished King Herod's son to Vienne in 6 AD.  

It was fun taking the train for a little afternoon trip.  We visited the stunning Cathedral St. Maurice which was built starting around 1050.  Saint Maurice was from Egypt.

We also visited a beautiful cloister and then had tea next to the temple of Augustus and Livia.  There's a plaque next to the temple telling us that Thomas Jefferson visited Vienne when he was our ambassador to France way back when.  He loved archaeology as you know.

We walked across the Rhone to a museum and architectural site that showed us the ins and outs of the Romans and the Gauls who used to call Vienne home.  The mosaics didn't disappoint.

We ended our Viennese time in a brasserie near the train station having a glass of wine before hopping back on the train to Lyon.

There are many old things here in France and they're all in surprisingly good shape.  It gets me to wondering if our house on High Street will be around in 4,021 AD?  We've put a lot of money and time into our house, so it may last a good long while.  Only time will tell. 

The Shaking

There have been some massive ginormous changes back at my school, so today I told Mari Homme, "It's hard being here in Lyon when things are moving and shaking back home."

He answered, "You would probably be talking to everyone right now."

"Are you kidding me?" I concurred. "I'd be talking nonstop with anyone who crossed my path.  For days on end!"

I shouldn't admit this, but I do love a little dramatic gossip here and there. Not too much, just the right amount. So it's hard to not be in the mix, hanging with my homies.  Still, I'm doing many fun and interesting things here in Lyon. I walked into the garden at the Beaux Arts Museum today, to see the sculptures again.  The Rodin sculpture called The Shadow is a good one.   

One thing I may not have mentioned is that I'm doing some research writing / work that involves 2 zooms each week.  As part of this work with good friend Mitzker and a few fun others, I've been reading a bunch of new stuff and learning a bunch of new things.  

It's great to have the time to fool around with tough ideas along with supportive, friendly conversation.  Mitzker and I have completed many projects together over the years, but here we're turning in a new direction. It's slow going, but I don't mind. You know what Karla Kuskin always says --- "It takes a lot of slow to grow." 

ps.  Do you know about the Kronos Quartet world premiere of At War with Ourselves --- 400 Years of You? I hope I get to see this show some day. Sounds so fascinating and moving.  Also, if you click on this link to read more about the work, you can watch a video of poet Nikki Finney that will knock your socks off. You may have already seen it because it's not super new, but man alive, it is awesome.  Nikki Finney is a big part of this performance. Kudos to the 5 members of Kronos Quartet for shaking up our world once again.

The Stories

 

True Colors Primary Academy

I decided to post my short stories here on alittleleeway.  I hope you can read them some day if you feel like it. Just click the links in the captions under these creative illustrations.  Or click on the links in the blog roll. Writing short stories isn't super easy, but it's been fun.  

True Colors is about a school that's gone a bit crazy with DATA WALLS.  Data walls were a big thing a few years ago.  I hope people have realized they're not very good. But there's still a lot of nonsense going on in schools about kids making growth in a linear way as if they are robots.  It makes me annoyed.

Sophie's Sanctuary is about the American turtles here in France and all around the world that have been released into the wild and are now being eliminated by various unpleasant means because they're considered invasive species. I'm glad Lyon has decided to provide sanctuary to these cool critters. #bringthemhome

Sophie's Sanctuary

The Bond

 James Bond movie this afternoon.  We realized about 3 minutes in that we had forgotten to check if the film was VF (dubbed) or VOFS (not dubbed but with French subtitles).  We thought about leaving, but then we decided to just stay put.  The movie was not difficult to follow even though the whole thing was in French, and we enjoyed it.  It definitely would have been more pleasant if we had seen the VO --original version --- but sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to.  You can still have fun and enjoy the explosions and the shootings and the car chases. 

I wouldn't mind seeing it again because there were a few conversations that seemed important, so maybe I'll head back to the theater some time this week. 

The Missionaries

I walked to the Confluence Museum this morning to check out a temporary exhibit I hadn't seen yet.  From the Eyes of the Missionaries is the title of the exhibit. Come to find out, the French missionaries were great at wandering the world, converting people to Catholicism, and then shipping many of their artifacts back to France so everyone here could enjoy them. When I say ALL OVER THE WORLD, that's exactly what I mean --- Africa, New Zealand, North and South America, China, Vietnam, North Pole --- if there were non-Christians hanging around, these guys and gals tracked them down. 

I was disappointed with the exhibit.  I learned about a slew of missionaries --- where they traveled, what they collected --- but nothing about the people they "converted."  I wish they had added a few plaques or interviews with people who could give us info about how these missionaries impacted their communities.  

Poorly done, Musee de Confluence. I admit to having a strong bias against colonization, but I'm sorry, I give you a 1 on the Fist of 5.  

The Ritual

 

I finished the turtle story. This is my second short story and now I will try to think of another idea for a third.  What am I going to do with these stories?  Should I put them on the blog with some of the illustrations I've made?  Should I keep them to share with the Thirdlanders?  Should I turn them into zines when we get home?  

And speaking of writing, the Ezra Klein Show podcast today featured a chat with two authors who I'm embarrassed to say are new to me:  Kiese Laymon and Tressie McMillan Cotton.  Kiese's comments about revision were fascinating. GREAT interview!

I walked an extra long amount today.  I was looking for a war memorial statue in Parc De La Tete D'Or in order to create my own Armistice Day Recognition Ritual. I didn't know that the memorial statue is on the Island of Remembrance.  I looked for it everywhere, except for the Island of Remembrance.  I didn't know that the little island had this special name.  Another mishap of my poor French language skills.

 I bombed out on my Armistice Day Recognition Ritual, but I did listen to two stories about veterans on The Moth as I walked over to visit the turtles again. 

 I could see some of the turtles brumating in the muddy bottom of the pond.  Some other turtles were enjoying the day.  I saw one large turtle attempt to bite the head off of a younger turtle, which was exciting, but made me wonder if I perhaps have represented the turtles in too positive a light in the turtle story. 

The Vegetarians

 All these pictures were taken by Mari Homme when we had dinner at Culina Hortus.  The photos are out of order because I got tired of trying to put them in order, which involved deleting them and adding them again many times and also involved some serious frustration on my part.  I think you still get the idea that this was a wonderful vegetarian meal that we thoroughly enjoyed. 

This was the "pre-dessert."  Mari Homme is convinced that "pre-dessert" is a great innovation.  2 more desserts followed.

This is the second main.  Amaranth and mushrooms.  WOW.

We had 3 amuse-bouches that we forgot to photograph.  This is the first starter.  Butternut squash with a maple syrup foam.  Delicious.

This is the last treat, which came after the dessert courses. Mari Homme ate both.  He said they were great.  "Very light."

I'm checking out the wines.  We opted for a wine pairing.  

First main.  BEST CARROTS EVER!

Sorry about the photos being out of order.  Mari Homme is not going to be pleased because he took all these pictures and wanted me to present the meal on the blog in an organized fashion. 

Here's the bonus of the night. The icing on the cake, so to speak.  We were early to the restaurant because we are Americans.  They only have one service each evening, but people can show up at different times.  When we were on our pre-dessert, guess who walked in for dinner at a nearby table?

PAUL MCCARTNEY and his wife NANCY SHEVELL.  I tried not to bother them, but come on.  You all know how much I love Paul McCartney.  I walked over to their table while Mari Homme was finishing my first dessert. They had not yet ordered, so that was courteous of me.  I introduced myself and then said, "I was just listening to your fabulous interview with Terry Gross this morning on my long walk around Vieux Lyon."  Paul said he loves Terry and is always happy to be on her show.  Then he asked me if I were vegetarian and for how long and what did I think of the restaurant?" 

After I filled him in on my long history of vegetarianism, we chatted a bit about Culina Hortus while Mari Homme got to work on our second desserts over at our table.  I mentioned to Paul  that we would be eating at Culina Hortus one more time before we leave for Paris at the end of November.  COME TO FIND OUT, Paul and Nancy are going to be in Paris in December as well and they asked us to join them at Arpege sometime mid-month. I told them I'd get back with them once I look at our calendars and we exchanged phone numbers.  

I could not have asked for a better evening.  Culina Hortus was a delight.  I highly recommend a visit there on your next trip to Lyon.  You never know... you may meet a new dear friend or two there. It's that kind of place. 

The Casting

I do love podcasts, but this is one peeve I have.  Sometimes I click on to a podcast, and the hosts of the podcast spend the first 15 minutes chitchatting about things that have nothing to do with the podcast. People, please don't waste my time. I need you to get focused. 

I'm in the market for some new podcasts.  I had to take a break from my favorite political MSNBC podcasts because the world's going to hell in a hand basket and the news makes me want to jump off the basilica. I'm also trying to break away from my beloved true crime podcasts because I started having dreams about murdering people I actually like.  For some reason I had a dream about strangling Amy Adams with a bathrobe sash. It might have been Anna Kendrick.  But either way, this is clearly not a good trend. 

  Starlee Kline has a good podcast called The Mystery Show. The episode I heard today is about a Welcome Back Kotter lunchbox.  There's an image on the lunchbox that seems unrelated to the show's content.  Why is a scene on the lunchbox that was never featured in the show? Starlee Kline and her pals get to the bottom of it.

I'm also enjoying Seth Rogan's podcast. A recent episode about a trip to Disney World is entertaining. Seth Rogan has a strange and funny voice. He describes DisneyWorld as a "shroom trip for kids." Seth seems to get a kick out of life, which I appreciate. The Smartless podcast is hit and miss, but their recent interview with Tom Hanks is a fun listen. The 3 hosts share some fun repartee with Tom Hanks, who let's face it, is a national treasure. 

There are many good podcasts out there, but it's hard to track them down at times.  Because I'm trying to write some fiction for future thirdlanders, I tried listening to some Writing for Children podcasts, but unfortunately, all the hosts talked as if I were a child and that cheesed me off.  

In conclusion, things are going well in Lyon.  I'm walking for 2 to 3 hours every morning and still see so many beautiful sites.  When podcasts aren't agreeing with me, I put away my headphones and listen to the sounds of the city, which is pleasant as all get out. I will especially miss the church bells ringing hither thither and yon.

Musee Lumière

 Did you know that two brothers from Lyon invented motion pictures?  The Lumiere Brothers invented the cinematographe in 1895. RIGHT HERE IN LYON!  Thomas Edison was fooling around with moving pictures too, but the Lumieres trumped his game. Or so they say at the museum.  Musee Lumiere gives you all the information you need to know about the Lumieres.  The museum is located in their childhood home, which is large and lovely.  Outside their home there used to be the factory they owned, where workers made photographic plates.  In 1895 they made the first film, which showed workers leaving the factory. A good first start.  Soon thereafter, they sent people around the world to capture scenes from different countries, almost like silent documentaries. 

After the museum, we went to see the new Wes Anderson film.  We love Wes Anderson.  This new one wasn't my favorite, but there were parts I much admired.  You should see it if you feel like it.