5 Best Sights in Lyon and the Alps, France

During World War II, Lyon played an important role in the Resistance movement against the German occupation of France. Displays include equipment, such as radios and printing presses, photographs, and exhibits re-creating the clandestine lives and heroic exploits of Resistance fighters.

Since 1933, systematic excavations have unearthed vestiges of Lyon's opulent Roman precursor. The statues, mosaics, vases, coins, and tombstones are excellently displayed in this partially subterranean museum next to the Roman theaters. The large, bronze Table Claudienne is inscribed with part of Emperor Claudius's address to the Roman Senate in AD 48, conferring senatorial rights on the Roman citizens of Gaul.

Old-time Jacquard looms are still in action at this historic house in La Croix Rousse, and the weavers are happy to show children how the process works. The boutique is a great place to stock up on a colorful range of silk, wool, and linen scarves—all made in Lyon.

Place de Lavalette—on the south side of the river, where most of Grenoble is concentrated—is where you'll find the Musée de Grenoble. Founded in 1796, it's one of France's oldest museums and was the first to concentrate on modern art (Picasso donated his Femme Lisant in 1921). An addition incorporates the medieval Tour de l'Isle (Island Tower), a Grenoble landmark. The collection includes 4,000 paintings and 5,500 drawings, among them works by Impressionists such as Renoir and Monet, and 20th-century masters like Matisse, Signac, Derain, Vlaminck, Magritte, Ernst, Miró, and Dubuffet. Artists from the Italian Renaissance and Flemish School are also represented.