Day 4: Canuts and Pérouges

On Monday morning, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before walking the half mile to learn about one of the most important historical aspects to the city of Lyon, France.  I previously mentioned in an earlier blog posting that Lyon has two large hills -- one on the north side and one on the west side.  Atop the west side hill is the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.  The northern hill is a residential and working area.  The people of Lyon call these two areas the Hill That Prays and the Hill That Works.  ("la colline qui prie et la colline qui travaille")

La Maison des Canuts was our destination.  Canuts is the French term for the silk workers.  It is a museum and a workshop dedicated to the craft of producing silk and silk products.  The silk-working industry was huge in Lyon during the Renaissance and was instrumental in decorating Versailles and other important chateaux throughout France. 
We learned about how the silk fabric is made, and also the organized labor aspect of the silk workers.  We also saw a very impressive demonstration on one of Jacquard's looms.  These types of silk looms are used to make scarves, ties, fabric for wall hangings, and also for artistic images that can be framed and hung.  Jacquard was a pioneer and his great contribution to the industry was the use of a card-based system that allows for the relatively easy incorporation of repeatable patterns into the designs of the silk fabric.  Something I found interesting about the demonstration was that the design is not visible to the weaver -- it appears on the under-side of the fabric.


Croque-monsieur

After the demonstrations, which were presented in both English and French, we returned for a lunch break.  After first making a quick stop for some groceries, and admiring the vast wall of yogurt options, we had a classic French lunch of salad and fresh bread, as well as a "Croque-monsieur", which are ham and cheese sandwiches. 

For the afternoon we took a short drive out of Lyon to a medieval walled town called Pérouges.  This was very cool, and we practically had the city to ourselves since we were still at the tail end of the slow season.  The city appears virtually the same as it did hundreds of years ago.  During high season, they stage special events and have people in period costumes populating the city. 



Tart au sucre - a simple pleasure

To recharge our batteries after our visit, we stopped at the bistrot inside the walled city for some cafe and tart au sucre.  On returning home to Lyon from Pérouges, we took a drive through the countryside, in the Dombes region.  This area has a large number of rain-water pools, or mini-lakes.  These pools were artificially created, some from as far back as the 15th century.  These were created as a source of revenue in fish-breeding, which was seen as more secure than agriculture.  We were also told this region is a good source for frogs.

We wrapped up the day with an apero with the downstairs neighbor, and a dinner of curry chicken and rice.  No frogs were on the menu.