Mark and I had our birthdays last week, celebrated in style in France. It was one of those milestone birthdays for me--I'm 30 years old now! It's great, I love it, the best age yet!
Mark took me on a guided tour of the traboules of Lyon. The traboules are very old passageways inside buildings, linking streets together, and creating a maze of shortcuts around the city. During the French Revolution and World War II, many people kept themselves from enemy hands by hiding within the maze of Lyon's traboules. And today, as a tourist, many of the traboules are open for exploration. Incredibly fun!
A few photos:
Me enjoying 30-hood at Bellecour, waiting for the tour to begin.
Entrance to a traboule.
The trabouls not only link streets together, they lead to inner courtyards and private spaces. Many of the residents have an agreement with the city that if they maintain their dwellings and allow tourists to pass through during specified hours, they will have low rent. This "lived in" quality is part of what makes the experience so charming and real.
According to our guide, this building is a prime example of renaissance architecture. At the time, the owner wanted to make the building a place elegant enough to entertain important visitors, and so he hired a famous architect (our guide told us the name, but I have a difficult time remembering such things) to beautify the place. The owner specifically did not want the courtyard to be diminished in size, and so the architect added to the walls of the existing building, using greek arches and shell patterns, both popular architectural elements during the renaissance.
My favorite door in Lyon.
Looking up from an inner courtyard.
This view alone is enough for me to want to live here!
Best birthday yet.
I love this town!After our afternoon adventure, we enjoyed the evening in back in the good old USofA...that is, we saw Indiana Jones and felt right at home.
1 comment:
Sounds like an amazing day! I have never heard of traboules. What a fascinating thing to learn, thanks for informing those of us that aren't French. What a wonderful bit of history!
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