The Silk Trade in Lyon

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Day 6

This was an unplanned day as we had not signed up for any of the special tours. We discovered that hundreds of years ago Lyon was the center of the silk trade. Catherine found a silk scarf shop yesterday when we were on tour but knew that there is a silk weaving shop in Vieux Lyon that has been there for hundreds of years. These merchants came on board yesterday and gave a silk dying demonstration but we missed it because we were in Perouges. We decided that we would hoof it back to Vieux Lyon and see if we could find the shop among the many twisting and turning streets in the old town. We were able to retrace our steps we took on the tour yesterday to the center of town, then map in hand we studied ever street one block at a time. We walked past the little alley that holds the silk weaver on our first go. We back tracked a bit and found it. The alley was to small there were only about 5 small buildings on each side. The silk weaver was the last shop on the left. Catherine gasped (which apparently she does whenever we pass a fabric store.) at the stunning scarves. Once inside we could see a back room with loom that probably created silk garments for Louis XVI. We kept standing at the doorway oohing and awing the equipment in the room. There was a silk garment in the making on the loom. The shop keep finally motioned for us to enter the room and left us there to gawk and take pictures.

As an aside; I notice in these beautiful Rhone towns we are visiting nothing new ever happens. Two hundred year old buildings are what the consider new and older buildings are resplendently renovated to look exactly as they did 500 or more years ago. The citizens are absolutely ensconced in the history of their town, people and civilization that came before. No one cares to speak of present day matters. They are happily living their lives as if it were 1100AD. If you ask for a direction, the answer can be given from a Cathedral outward. "Go to Le Eglise Trois Marie and then after a time turn a gauche."

As another aside, It's amusing to me that when we walked around Paris Catherine looked up at the buildings, took and deep breath and said, "I think I'd like to pack up everything and move to Paris. Now as we booked it by foot back to the old section in town to search the cobble stone streets for the silk maker Catherine looked up at the buildings, took a deep breath and said, I think I'd like to live here instead. After all we can always take the speed train into Paris whenever we wish.

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Comments

[Jessica]

WOW!
That is so amazing. I'm loving these pictures, too. It's like something out of National Geographic. <3

[Tom and Roberta Trips]

Lyon
Glad you like them ?