Resistance

Many French cities have exhibitions on Resistance history, often under names referring to "Resistance et Deportation" ("Deportation" referring to the Holocaust.) A couple of the most moving I've visited are in Lyon and Grenoble. They often have little or no labelling in English, however.

It's a little out of the way, but I remember that the museum on the citadel hill in Besancon might have had quite a bit on the Resistance. It was a nice town to visit, on the way to Geneva, Rick's mountains (Chamonix), and Perouges. We day-tripped to the area Courbet painted from Besancon. (accent omitted)

The town of Fontaine de Vaucluse has History Museum, also known as the Museum of the Resistance, which is one of the most interesting we've seen. It documents everyday life under the Vichy regime, including, in a classroom display, a chilling recording of school children singing about how they love their dear marechal (Petain). The museum is dedicated to the memory of the town's mayor, who was executed for his support of the Resistance. I remember there being explanations of the displays in English; but, maybe, my rudimentary French served me better than recall.

I can only offer an experience which might be of interest. We had a pleasant al fresco lunch on the place in Capestang, a Canal du Midi town. Afterward we strolled around the square. We came upon a plaque which memorialized the 179 local men who had been rounded up there and hauled away to Germany by the SS. And others of the resistance who had been arrested there, tortured and later shot by the Germans in Beziers. It was a shock to think what had happened in this small town in the Languedoc. You could say we were in a living museum of WW2.

Hi, This is not exactly what you asked, but if you want to see a museum on the resistance located in Paris I suggest "Musee du Marechal Leclerc and the Musee Jean Moulin near the Montparnasse metro station...very esoteric stuff. Outside of Paris: In the south (near Ardeche) the Vercors area is a museum on the resistance I saw it over 10 years ago...pretty poignant.

Nancy, While not specifically a "resistance" site, one of the most moving and significant historic sites in France is the "martyrs village" of Oradour sur Glane, just outside Limoges. The entire population of the town was exxecuted by the SS, for no apparent reason. There's a small Museum there as well as the remains of the town. De Gaulle ordered it to be left as it was at the end of the war, and a new town was built nearby. Happy travels!

I also enjoyed the Resistance Museum in Fontaine de Vaucluse very much. It has a lot about Vichy. Think poster of Winston Churchill as an evil octopus, his tentacles cut off by muscular French farmers. That said, it's not such a comprehensive exhibit that I would go to Provence just to see it. But it's worth taking the time to visit if you are in Provence (which of course has many other attractions).

In Paris in the Mairie for the 3rd arrondissement there is a "salon des fetes" (for marriages, etc) named after Odette Pilpul, who was a French civil servant but also in the Resistance. Not Jewish but married to a Jew, she saved many Jewish lives before being deported. There are many websites outlining her heroism. She was my step-daughter's great-aunt and we visited the Mairie last December to photograph the plaque honouring her.

Thanks, Everyone, We've been to Oradour and will never forget what we saw there. I will look into the places you all mentioned. On previous trips, we would often come across a plaque memorializing some one who had been killed resisting. In some towns we saw monuments listing the names of all the deportees. I was wondering if anyone had visited any of the places where the former camps were located.
Thanks, again

Nancy Have a look at a website called Traces of War . com
I believe it is a german site but they have a lot of info by country of all museums, monuments, etc, for WWII.