Lyon, part 2

Vieux-Lyon is by far my favourite area of Lyon so far. It is very touristy, but for good reason. Vieux-Lyon is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area was once home to the Gauls (often referred to as the ancestors of the French), and played an important role in the French Resistance during World World 2 thanks to medieval passageways called traboules. (I haven't explored these yet!)

The first time I went to Vieux-Lyon, it was for a soirée with some other International students. We went to an Irish pub and didn't really meet anyone outside of our group. It was just too crowded.

That night, I was approached by a seemingly harmless man who wanted to talk to my friends and I, just outside the pub. He asked questions about where we were from, what we were studying, etc etc. Have you ever just had that feeling that it wasn't going to be harmless? I don't know if it's a Canadian thing, or if it's just me, but I really dislike being rude to people or making assumptions about them. Unfortunately, it sometimes puts me in a tough situation where I've left a conversation go on too long because I didn't want to be rude, but then I get "creeped out".

The other girls left long before I did. I didn't realize that they were "escaping" and that they wouldn't be coming back for a while. He asked me for my phone number and I said I didn't have one (quick thinking!) and then he asked where I sleep at night. It's hard work to come up with two good lies in a row. When I said ENS, he wrote it down in a notebook where he had phone numbers and other addresses written down. The others told me I should have said "In my bed". Unfortunately, I am not that clever. Fortunately, you can't get into ENS without an ID badge. I haven't seen him since.

Another day, I went with my collacatrice Morgane to Vieux-Lyon for lunch. We ate at a restaurant called Les Pampres rouges at Place Neuve-St Jean. The area was touristy, but the restaurant had a reasonably priced menu. I ordered tandoori chicken and île flottante (a type of meringue floating in English cream). Both were delicious! Even though our table was directly next to another pair of women who were eating, our conversation still felt private and it didn't feel cramped at all. During lunch we were serenaded by a tuba player and his accompaniment. A newly married couple walked down the street to applause from all the people dining and the tuba played bonne fête. It was really lovely!

Finally, I went to Vieux-Lyon on la journée du patrimoine, which is a day where there are special attractions set up around the city and all of the museums are free.

Alexandre and I went to a bouchon (a typical Lyonnais restaurant) in Presqu'île on rue des Marronniers called Chez Mounier (04.78.37.79.26). Aside from having great company, I had a really delicious meal. It was a typically French four-course menu consisting of goat cheese salad, rabbit (my first time having it!) and gratin, St Marcellin cheese which is a regional specialty, and dessert.  It cost us only €13 each. If you're ever in Lyon, I would highly recommend this restaurant. It is described elsewhere on the Internet as a Lyonnais institution, and I can see why. However, I also have to recommend making reservations... it was packed!

Afterward, we walked back across one of the bridges into Vieux-Lyon and without any concrete plans, ended up watching a live band performing in Place du Change. In the Middle Ages, it was the square where the market was located. The Temple du Change that is located there now was built as Lyon's financial centre, but has been a Protestant place of worship since 1803.

The museum I had been hoping to see that weekend was the Musée Gadagne, which I had thought for some reason was in the 5th arrondissement, but it turns out it was right around the corner from where we were. Thanks to some well-placed signs, I got to see the museum after all.

The Musée Gadagne has two sections: the history of Lyon, and the marionnette museum. We were interested primarily in the history of Lyon bit, but were misdirected into the wrong section. The marionnette museum features the illustrations from the early forms of shadow theatre and marionnette's from all over the world. The most notable in the Musée Gadagne is Guignol, the Lyonnais marionnette. We saw him, as well as many other kind-of-creepy-looking-marionnettes and got to try out a few in the kids' section (of course when I put mine down it made a really loud noise...) The one here is included for my Scottish friend Jamie's benefit:

Eventually we made it through and got to the history of Lyon section. It was really interesting. The museum is a choronological record of Lyon's history, starting with artefacts from the time of the Roman Empire when "Lugdunum" (as it was then known) was an important city in Gaul. There were also artefacts from the Middle Ages, Lyon's role during the French Revolution, Napolean's influence in Lyon, the rise of the silk industry and the demonstrations by the silk workers (called canuts), the role of Lyon in the two World Wars (and especially their role in the Resistance movement) and the urbanisation of Lyon. Unfortunately, we got kicked out before we'd made it through everything because the museum closed. I almost wish I had done this museum before any of my other sight-seeing because it really gives you an idea of the importance of the other museums/sights that exist in Lyon, but better late than never!

To finish off an excellent day, we rented Velo'v bicycles and rode across the Saône, along the Rhône and back to ENS. (But that's a different story...)