Traboules of Croix-Rousse!

This morning Elise came to pick me up around 10:30 on her way home from a neighboring city to Saint-Priest. She lives over near the airport, about 25 minutes away from where I live, so thankfully I was sort of on the way! She had to go fill out paperwork for her son's passport (they're going to Canada this summer on vacation)... and I was surprised to see her son in the car as well! I figured she'd leave him with her mother today... but apparently her mom is really sick with the flu. So- we were avec bébé! I didn't mind at all.... plus he slept most of the time we were in the car, while she made lunch (bifteck or thin slice of beef-steak and dauphinoise potatoes... like scalloped potatoes for us), and didn't make a peep while we carted him around the city in search of the secret passageways or the lyonnais traboules.

It was fun to see her apartment and to see pictures of her family and boyfriend (they have a civil union... so he's basically her husband- but sounds like they just haven't found the time or money to have a real wedding ceremony... she said one day though!). She gave me a bunch of documents to put on a thumb drive (some specifically French, but others that are kind of universal... art projects, color by numbers, etc.). She also brought out some French card games and tried to explain how they were played. It was funny that she felt like she needed to show me typically French things.... but in the end, she was inviting me to come over again next Wednesday to meet her mother who loves to play cards... so that should be interesting if it works out!

We chatted and had an apéritif while she cooked (sweet wine and sausage with nuts). We chatted while we ate, and finally, Corinthan, her son woke up for some lunch of his own! His name is pronounced core-ain-tin... but despite knowing what it sounded like and how it was spelled, I still had issues pronouncing it. Not an easy French word to say! But while mommy cleaned up, Corinthan and I played with his jouets in his room. He's a very cute little boy with long reddish hair... but it's kind of weird to baby talk in French, or at least talk to a baby in French. But we understood each other just fine lol.

Once we were ready to go, Elise drove us into Lyon, passing by the mur des canuts, or the Canuts Fresco (Canuts are the lyonnais silk workers). It is actually the largest fresco in Europe (who knew it'd be in Lyon!) and displays the daily life of the habitants of Croix-Rousse, with of course an emphasis on the silk worker trade. It's quite amazing (painted in 1987)- I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture.... but what is also awesome is that it's a trompe l'oeil, or one of those trick of the eye paintings. The windows you see are actually painted in!

We parked in a garage near the grand caillou, or the big rock... it's really nothing too exciting, just a big rock... but I do remember Corinne and Luc saying it was a really really old rock... like from the prehistoric era lol. I don't know how it ended up on a hill in Lyon, but anyway- that's where we parked. In looking for the start of our little tour Elise printed out, we passed by a group of people living in teepee's and tents. Elise tried to explain that they lived the way they did in protest of something... I'm guessing from their signs and bus run on cooking oil that it had something to do with energy resources and the planet... they looked a little rough, but it was interesting none-the-less! And a great way to start off our tour of the very artsy-hippie-rebel area of town- Croix-Rousse!

The traboules tour was marked by little blue and yellow lions and arrows... and although it was fun to figure out where the next lion was, we somehow missed a few, and subsequently a few traboules. Tant pis I said! The ones that we did get to see were pretty amazing, especially the one on Place Colbert, the cour des voraces. It is said that the first traboules of Lyon were started in the 4th century when residents needed a way to access water... they built the covered passageways to parallel roads... I guess for both refuge from the elements and to provide a quick way down to the river from your house. In any event, there are over 300 traboules in Vieux Lyon, Presqu'ile, and of course Croix-Rousse. The ones in Vieux Lyon obviously date back quite a ways to the middle ages, whereas the ones in Croix-Rousse date back to the silk workers (1800's). They built them to both traverse les pentes de la Croix-Rousse quickly (the slopes of Croix-Rousse) and to keep their materials, silks, etc. safe from the elements when moving from workshop to workshop.

The traboule on Place Colbert has a 6 story staircase, is the site of a Canut revolt (when the silkworkers were fighting for better working conditions), and is one of the most visited of the traboules. It is quite spectacular even with some graffiti as you walked down the stairs to continue through the tunnel. Graffiti is pretty much all over Europe, but in Lyon, it seems to be more prevalent in Croix-Rousse. When I commented about it to Elise, she said... well this area is un peu rebel, as in the people who live/work in this area are a bit rebellious. She said she wouldn't come here at night... it's definitely a different side to a big city... and if you don't know your way on the traboules, you can easily get yourself lost! It is quite the interesting area of town- lots of vintage shops and unique boutiques on some streets, wild looking bars a hodge-podge of chairs and tables, and secret passageways to boot! A little trippy if you ask me!

But in all seriousness, the traboules are really cool- and to know that they served a purpose and still do today (I have another colleague who's always talking about using the traboules to get down the hill faster) and helped local resistance fighters in World War II, only makes them better. If you think about it- having 300-400 traboules at the resistance's hands was probably incredibly useful. They're impossible to find unless you know where they are and where they lead... so for foreign invaders, I'm sure they worked to the locals' advantage for quite some time (and I doubt they had little blue and yellow lions leading the way!).

After our descent from the top of the Croix-Rousse, we ended up at my favorite fountain in Place des Terreaux. We walked to Rue de la République for some ice cream and Corinthan's afternoon gouté. We decided to take the metro back up (we went down a lot of stairs with the stroller.... there was no way we were going back up them!)... and Elise drove me home.

Now it's about time for bed! I have another spectacle to chaperon tomorrow!!!
Enjoy the pics and reste cool:)