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onjour!
Bonjour, this month we will revisit Lyon, a city that we are particularly fond of.
Located about 280 miles south of Paris but only 2 hours away by the TGV high-speed
train, this city has long been an essential crossing point between Italy and northern
Europe for geographical reasons. We would like to take you along our continued visit
through the streets and very rich past of Lyon, the famous capital city of the Gauls.
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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The "Old Lyon"
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The collapse of the Roman Empire after four centuries of successful and absolute
domination brought about a period of uncertainty and dangers from all sources.
Barbarians invaded the region of Lyon, destroying everything in their wake.
Pillagers namely took hold of the lead from the Roman aqueducts.
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Along the Saône river
(Click photo to enlarge)
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Deprived of water, the inhabitants abandoned their beautiful residences on the
Fourvière hill for the banks of the river Saône. They settled on the ancient
Celtic way that connected what are today the St-Georges, St-Jean and St-Paul
neighborhoods, forming a long narrow passageway between the hills and the river.
Houses stood back to back along dark and unsanitary streets, giving shape to the
old town close to the cathedral. The population continued to grow little by little
in this area, adding first a second row, then a third row of houses, all parallel
to the initial ones. Without any direct access to the river, the city let the
newcomers make tunnels through the buildings that were closer to the water. These
passageways, known as "traboules", were first built in "Old Lyon", on the right bank
of the river Saône, and were incorporated into the new houses that were rebuilt during
the Middle Ages.
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A Wealthy City
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In the Middle Ages, the independence and wealth that a city enjoyed depended essentially
on the privileges it was granted by the king. These were obtained either from a given
district status with its tax exemptions and a relatively independent parliament, or an
authorization to open a university. Lyon took advantage of yet another way to get rich,
by holding fairs. In 1420, to reward the people of Lyon for their loyalty, the dauphin
Charles VII granted them two fairs per year, then a third one in 1443. Twenty years later,
King Louis XI even granted them a fourth one. At the same time, he disallowed both his
subjects and the foreign merchants moving about the country from attending the Geneva
fairs. To attract the latter, he also exempted their merchandise from all taxes, ensured
their safety and gave up his "opportunity right" which allowed him to confiscate the
belongings of any foreigner who died on French soil. As the fairs took place, Italian
bankers started to travel to Lyon, followed by German and Swiss financiers. Lyon became
an international transit center as well as a major banking area. The city received and
exported spices from Venice and Genoa, as well as luxury silk sheets, velvet, taffeta,
and damask all imported from Italy as well.
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Recipe for March 2009
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Puff Pastry Bites
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The Birth of the Silk Industry
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Louis XI wanted to set up a silk factory in Lyon and have masters and workers come
there from Italy. He also promised tax exemptions to encourage people to learn the
trade, but the inhabitants of Lyon flat out refused to do so, for fear of making the
wealthy Italian merchants angry and loose their business. It wasn't until the beginning
of the 16th century that King François I followed through on this idea, and succeeded
where his predecessor had failed.
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The Pink Tower in Lyon
(Click photo to enlarge)
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Although he stated economic reasons as his goal, what he really wanted was to ruin Italy,
a country that he was fighting. One century later, the quality Lyon silk was very highly
valued throughout all of Europe. Shortly before the French Revolution, this thriving
industry sustained more than half of the inhabitants of Lyon. Little by little, in the
St Jean neighborhood, magnificent Renaissance style residences were built, a testimony
to the extreme wealth of the merchants who acquired the silk and then sold it once it
was woven. It was also at this time that additional floors were added to the somewhat
unsanitary buildings of this same area, to set up the weaving looms where the silk workers
would spend hours making pieces of fabric for a miserable salary.
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The Silk Workers at the Croix Rousse (Red Cross)
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In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard, son of a silk worker, developed a mechanical weaving loom
that would revolutionize the profession.
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Mural at "la Croix Rousse"
(Click photo to enlarge)
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The machine could be operated by a single worker whereas several people had been needed
for the same job up until then. Several colors could be weaved on a single fabric when
only one shade had been possible beforehand. Finally, it allowed each worker to complete
his piece much faster. However, this loom presented two major disadvantages. The first
was that it measured about 13 ft high, and was thereby too tall to fit inside the old
residences of the St Jean neighborhood. It became necessary to construct new buildings
to accommodate the machines' specifications, and the Croix Rousse (Red Cross) area was
chosen as the site. The silk workers agreed to move but demanded that "traboules" be
incorporated into the plans. This allowed them to deliver their woven pieces to the
merchants left behind in Old Lyon on the banks of the river Saône, faster and also
shielded from any bad weather and mud. The second drawback was that one man was enough
to weave one piece much faster. Workers feared unemployment but the steadily increasing
demand for fabric under the First (Napoleonic) Empire avoided this much dreaded outcome.
Nonetheless, the weaving looms didn't do much to improve the workers' pittance of a salary,
and that would directly cause the terrible revolts of 1831 and 1834.
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The Bellecour "Meadow"
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In September 1658, a 20 year old Louis XIV traveled to Lyon accompanied by Marie Mancini,
a young woman he was madly in love with who was the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. He enjoyed
going for walks on this ancient parade ground that was at the time still just a large meadow,
to "fleureter" with his lady-love ("Fleureter" is Old French for "moving from flower to flower",
from which English derived "to flirt").
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Place Bellecour in Lyon
(Click photo to enlarge)
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He allocated the statute of Royal Square to the "Bellecour Meadow", upon which "no building
shall ever be built no matter the reason". It officially became "Place Louis-le-Grand" and
an equestrian statue was erected there in honor of the Sun King. As early as the 18th century,
sumptuous townhouses were built around this square embellished with pools of water and lime
trees. It became a very popular walking and meeting place with the well-to-do. Unfortunately,
while the young monarch and Marie were promising each other eternal love, Mazarin was
negotiating a long overdue peace between Spain and France, the two most powerful kingdoms
at the time. Reasons of State triumphed over the beautiful love story and the young Italian
woman was ordered to disappear forever. Against his will, Louis XIV married the infanta of
Spain, Marie-Thérèse. The Place Bellecour, one of the greatest squares in Europe, would
remain the only witness to this thwarted love story.
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Beautiful Murals |
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Another original way for visitors to discover the city of Lyon presents itself in the form
of a multitude of murals which represent much more than just their images. Indeed,
aside from the colors and the occasional "trompe-l'oeil" fronts that might bring a little
cheerfulness to the hurried city-dwellers, it is the entire history of Lyon and its suburbs
that is on display on these facades, and they are well worth your time. You may start with
the huge 4,306 square foot fresco at the corner of Quai de la Pêcherie and Rue de la
Platière in the 1st arrondissement named the "Bibliothèque de la Cité"
(the city library). On this wall, you will read hundreds of writers' names from Lyon and the
Rhône-Alpes region, recalling a time when the publishing industry in Lyon was ranked
third in Europe, and printing was still in its infancy. At the corner of Quai St Vincent and
Rue de la Martinière, 30 famous figures who each in their own way contributed to the
history of Lyon rub elbows over 8,611 square feet chronicling the centuries. You will see,
among others, the Roman emperor Claude who was born in Lyon, the Lumière brothers who
invented the motion-picture camera and projector, St-Exupéry, a native of Lyon and the
author of "Le Petit Prince", and Paul Bocuse, the famous and very charismatic great chef. It
is impossible to describe them all in a few lines or even mention every painted wall in the
city and its surroundings, since there are more than 450 of them.
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Guignol (Puppet Show)
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Just like thousands of silk workers, Laurent Mourguet found himself unemployed when,
after the Revolution,
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He belongs to Lyon: Guignol
(Click photo to enlarge)
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the court lost interest in Lyon silk in favor of cloth from Jouy. More by necessity
than by vocation, he became a charlatan who pulled teeth. As tradition dictated at
that time, customers were drawn in by a puppet show and associates would then beat
the drums to cover cries of pain. To distract the customers, Laurent Mourguet bantered,
using themes of the Commedia dell'arte and a puppet from Italy, Punchinello. His success
was such that he then created his own puppets. First came "Gnafron", a colorful cobbler
with a fondness for Beaujolais wine, then came "Guignol" to play opposite him. He wore
the silk workmen's clothes and sorted out his affairs with a society that his creator
found unfair and merciless. His successors continued in that same direction to the point
where the already mythical character of Guignol, considered too revolutionary, would be
censored under Napoléon III. But the spirit of Guignol was born and had such an impact
that his name is still used today as a generic term for all puppet shows. Less you forget
though, Guignol is above all a citizen of Lyon, and it would be unthinkable to talk about
Lyon without mentioning him.
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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Lyon was the hometown of many geniuses whose inventions or work changed the entire world.
André-Marie Ampère invented the telegraph; Charles Mérieux, chemist and biologist, developed
many vaccines that saved millions of lives; Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the
motion-picture camera and projector, and these two brothers probably helped make
Hollywood what it is today; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, an aviation and writing enthusiast,
penned "Le Petit Prince"... just to name a few of the figures who contributed to the reputation
of Lyon as both a traditional and a modern city. Listed on the UNESCO World Heritage sites,
the Gaul capital has an abundance of cultural and architectural riches to be discovered.
But let's also remember that Lyon is the great capital of gastronomy that draws gourmets
from all over the world!
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