Lunch on La Croix-Rousse

Saturday started out sunny and warmer but by the afternoon it had turned quite raw.

I had a busy social calendar on Lyon's Croix-Rousse hill to tend to on this day before a Falcons game.

This place will be crazy tomorrow

It IS St. Patrick's Day after all

 Lunch with the Damboise Family

Lucie, Julien, Jean Charles and Marianne

I had been invited to join the Damboise family for a great repast at the Plato Restaurant on the Croix-Rousse hill.

It was a very nice restaurant with good food, I had the duck, and spectacular table mates to enjoy it all!

Thank you Damboise family for another great meal.

After lunch, I was scheduled to join other members of the AVF Club for a guided tour of the Traboules that were an intricate part of Lyon's silk industry in the 18th and 19th centuries.

A traboule is a secret passageway between buildings that were used as short cuts to help get the silk from the weavers atop the Croix-Rousse hill down to the silk sellers located next to the Saône River below. We were also in store for a nice dose of Lyonnais silk industry history to be sure.

While waiting for the tour to start, I saw an interesting thing.

A One Passenger Vehicle

Hmmm, I wonder . . .

Joseph-Marie Jacquard

Father of Lyon's Silk Industry

His invention of the Jacquard Loom in 1801 revolutionized the silk industry.

Jacquard Statue Knee in Detail

 The Tour Group Forming

We had about 60 people in attendance, so we were broken into four groups, each with their own tour guide.

Catherine, our expert Tour Guide

Did you know that in 1862, the Croix-Rousse hill was serviced by the world's first funicular railway? A cog rail system powers today's Metro line that crosses the Croix-Rousse.

Graffiti on Croix-Rousse

Bovine Surgery?

Croix-Rousse buildings feature

floors that are four meters high

Four meters equals a little over 13 feet. The reason for this is that most of these now residential buildings were originally factory space for silk weavers. A Jacquard Loom was  a little short of 4 meters high, thus the over sized rooms. 

Laundry never rests 

 Neither does rust

I do not know?

 Bust of Louis-Marie-Hilaire Chardonnet

He invented "artificial silk," a.k.a, rayon.

Sacrilege!!!

Earth Tones

During World War II, Resistance members would meet discretely in the traboules to avoid detection by the Nazis.

High Flying Bike

Tour Mates Leticia and Angelique

  

What?

I leave Lyon for one day to go to Aix-en-Provence and they erect a new church for me to visit in the coming weeks.

Amazing!!!

I think that I'll pass on this one 

A rue back up the Croix-Rousse

Nope, still full from lunch

The Lyon building that is one

HUGE mural celebrating Lyon's

favorite daughters and sons 

 Catherine explaining each

and every person depicted

Is that a tapestry? 

No leaves yet but I spied some buds

The tour was now over and rather than amble over to the AVF Club headquarters for café and goodies, I opted to run a couple of errands before the shops closed.

 I could always use a good Red Skull

but it was not on my shopping list today

 Syrian Flag on Place Bellecour

They were selling Syrian food in the tent a few meters away.

GAME DAY SUNDAY!!!

Junior Home Game

Our Falcon Junior team (1-0) has a tough game at home on Sunday as they take on the two-time defending French National Champion Black Panthers (2-0) from Thonen-les-Bains.

BONNE CHANCE JUNIORS!!!

On Sunday, our Senior (5-0) team travels to Chambéry to take on the host Aigles (1-2). Although we won the first meeting with the Aigles 18-0 back in November, the Aigles were tough and just a few plays away from beating us. It is going to be a tough game for the Falcons I'm sure.

Days left until Paris . . .

a Romantic City . . .

. . . INDEED!!!