Lyon has seen its share of heroes. Some grow up, others die, but always fighting, inventing or helping. From Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to Claude Bourgelat, you only have to look at the history of the people of Lyon to get an idea. But this time, we’re not talking about a literary genius or the inventor of animal medicine, but about ordinary men and women who, far from the spotlight, have worked to save and renovate part of our beloved city of Lyon.
Annie and Régis Neyret, the guardian angels of Vieux Lyon
Post-war Vieux Lyon doesn’t have the praise it has today. The streets were poorly traveled, and one building after another was falling into disrepair… In short, it was a far cry from today’s postcard-perfect setting. At the time, there was a breath of modernity. As if to forget the bad memories of the war, people wanted to wipe out whole swathes of Lyon by building new districts or larger traffic arteries. Such was the case of Vieux Lyon, the target of Louis Pradel, Lyon’s mayor at the time, who wanted to bulldoze a new boulevard from Fourvière to the Pont Maréchal Juin.
The couple decided to take the initiative and joined the Renaissance du Vieux Lyonassociation with great hope and enthusiasm. Their aim was to restore the district, home to some of the city’s greatest architectural treasures, such as the traboules, to its former glory. One thing leading to another, and thanks to several years of unwavering determination, the work of the association led by the Neyret couple is bearing fruit: the treasures of Vieux Lyon will not be replaced by a concrete ring road.
Lyon, ad vitam aeternam
For several decades, the couple and the association spearheaded the renovation until , in 1998, Régis Neyret joined the committee that led Lyon to register Vieux Lyon as a UNESCO World Heritage Site of “Outstanding Universal Value” for centuries to come…
Following the deaths of Annie and Régis Neyret in 2019, just a few months apart, the city of Lyon decided in 2023 to pay tribute to them on the Quai Romain-Rolland, not far from the Maison Thomassin where the couple lived for almost 35 years. A bronze statue where their eyes meet one last time, for eternity. The plaque on the promenade that now bears their name reads: “Annie et Régis Neyret, passeurs de patrimoine”. That, in a nutshell, is what it’s all about.