The best museums Rhône-Alpes

It is on a daily basis that firemen intervene to save lives. Open for more than 50 years, installed in a renovated space, the Firemen's Museum allows you to see the evolution of the equipment: 150 collection vehicles (presented in turn in the museum), fire pumps, clothing with exceptional pieces and a collection of 1800 helmets, one of the most important in the world, with the helmets of the victims of the Feyzin tragedy Family visit.

It is impossible to miss it: while arriving at Saint-Etienne from the North, the black and white walls of Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain announce it to the travellers. It is one of the most important cultural places of the city. Its collection, with works of 20th and 21st century, is rich in great names like Andy Warhol, Fernand Léger, Picasso, Miro, Wassily Kandisky, Pierre Soulages... More recent personalities of the contemporary art, such Orlan or Gilbert and George are also present at the Museum. The totality of this artistic wealth is not visible in one time: the space available does not allow to expose all of them, and a considerable part of the collections are lent to other museums in the world. The museum also offers many temporary exhibitions, to explore the most forward-thinking facets of the contemporary art. The entrance is free on the first Sunday of each month.

In the middle of the th century, a ferry was allowed to reach Chanteuges on the other bank of the Allier River. In 1887, the construction of a bridge on the river resulted in the boatmasters's disappearance. It was in the house of the smuggler that this original and unique museum was built in France. A collector of ancient objects in iron-white, Abbot Paul Bidault, the pastor of Le Mans, left his rooms in 1986 for the first fund of the museum. Another collector, Claude Fustier, a dentist-dentist in Langeac, also gave his collection to the museum with some 300 pieces. In 1988, the museum was made up of 700 objects purchased in Sommières in Gard. The iron-white, that is, the tin sheet of tin, was used for centuries, especially for the manufacture of household objects. Cake molds, buckets, bidons, teapots, coffee makers, plats… Some pieces are particularly remarkable, with the image of this steam-run egg drummer. We will also discover a large number of religious objects: quête, ciboires, shrines, chalices, some dating back to the th and th centuries. Toys and military objects are also exposed.

In 2012, when René was looking for a house to retire, he found himself at the Monastier-sur-Gazeille. He was surprised to see this large 400 m ² building when the announcement indicated that it was a school. He and his wife had the idea of reviving this old school through a museum. It opened in 2013 and several classrooms have regained their soul of yesteryear. Wearing a coat, a berret and hooks, you will become an actor in your visit. You will discover this school universe which begins in late nineteenth century until school closure. René will tell you his story and bring you back to the age of your youth. You will have the opportunity to learn to calculate using the lily, and to practice in writing with the filler and the pen. Beware of mistakes, otherwise it will be the donkey! Emotion guaranteed.

Facing the Ile Barbe, in a sumptuous natural setting, Charles Couty has opened a museum dedicated to the work of his father, the painter Jean Couty (1907-1991) - winner of the Paris Critics' Prize in 1950 and the Grand Prix des Peintres Témointres de leur Temps in 1975 - but also to modern and contemporary art. A place out of the ordinary by the beauty of the site, the architectural beauty of the building and by the collections that one discovers there. Jean Couty, a figurative painter who loved to paint Lyon - but also the landscapes from here and elsewhere, the Romanesque churches -, gives us his vision of the city, the women and men he met there. A total of 150 works, including 120 paintings, are on display with sketches, drawings and other objects familiar to the artist. The hangings allow visitors to come back regularly to discover new works, such as these "Landscapes from here and elsewhere". It's a great idea to highlight a Lyon artist who left his mark on his time: a museum that catches the eye and pleases the mind.