Alex is still coughing quite a bit, a nasty hack that makes him cringe with leg pain. We've been working on mitigating the cough to help with the leg, with some success. This morning, however, was not a good day for the guy. Within an hour of leaving the flat, I deposited Alex back there so that he could lie down and focus on pain relief. He assured me that he'd have a good day enjoying our apartment and that I should go exploring. So I did, but not without sadness for his situation and worry for him. We are close to coming home, and when we get there, the back/leg pain issue will be our first priority.
My new plan, now changed without Alex, was to find something to do that perhaps Alex wouldn't want to do with me. I settled on the Museum of Confluences, a new structure that opened in 2014. It was almost a two mile walk from our flat and focused on natural history and science. Seemed like the perfect choice. The walk was quite pleasant af first, down little streets in the area of Lyon that sits in between the Rhone and Saone rivers. Soon, though, the walk became scenic in an entirely different way. Gone were the quaint residential streets, replaced by the highway to my left and abandoned buildings on my right. I walked past an interesting looking strip club and an odd circus (??) tent set up, empty of people but smelling strongly of animal waste. All the while, though, I could see the huge museum in the distance, so I kept on.
Before entering the museum, I took a tour around the outside to admire the architecture. I was debating whether it would be worth the trip to walk all the way down to where the Rhone and Saone join, thinking from afar that it didn't look too interesting. But since I was so close to it and didn't want to regret, I pushed on towards the confluence. Worth it. Weirdly, at the very tip of the peninsula, there were railroad tracks and a cobbled street that just disappeared into the water. I'm going to need to research the history of this area to find out what it's previous life looked like. But now, the tracks have an eerie quality to them, as if there's a whole civilization beneath the river. On my way back up to the museum, I was treated to a view of a family of swans on the Rhone side of the river. The best.
Confluences is the perfect name for this museum. For the obvious reason, it is named for the point at which two rivers meet, but the name fits in other ways. Each exhibit was curated in a way that brought together art, history, archeology, anthropology, sound, touch, technology and wonder into each space. The confluence of the storytelling was awe inspiring and very unique. It is definitely a 21st century museum.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that one of the three special exhibits showing was about the Lumiere brothers, Lyonians considered the fathers of cinema. Dang it. Alex would love this. The exhibit was presented mostly in the dark, giving viewers the opportunity to look at films easily and providing the kind of the wonder people must have felt in sitting in a cinema over 100 years ago. I walked through the history of the medium shown in many ways, but of course, particularly focused on film. Surprises were around every corner, the best of which was the huge wall displaying Lumiere's first film, a simple shot of people exiting a doorway. When it ended, the shot exploded into thousands of different films, going over 30 feet high in the air, all playing simultaneously, creating the appearance of a huge stained glass window you'd find in a church, only in black and white. Then gradually the films flickered away, leaving a black screen once again. It was breathtaking. I kept having pangs, wishing Alex were there with me to see it all.
The other special exhibits included one on the history of poison, from animals to plants to elements. It also included ways humans have used poisons to kill each other over the centuries. Super fascinating and also visually stunning. The last special exhibit was a collection of collections, from bugs to bones and anything else. Loved it.
I went on to the permanent collections on the next floor, admiring the stunning views of Lyon from this space ship looking museum. My favorite collection was about death. There were several pod like chairs to sit in and view films of different doctors, philosophers and scientists viewpoints about death and dying through the centuries, including the notion of immortality. Then, the exhibit showcased funeral rituals from around the world. Other exhibits focused on the history of man, the history of mammals and one about humban culture. Each were unique and creative, utilizing many different modes of display and information consumption. Museum heaven.
After I was done, I had a little snack at the top of the structure, watching the skies get all moody over Lyon and feeling the strong wind on my body. It was hard to leave Confluences but my boy and his back were calling me home.
Before I'd even entered the museum, I scoped out the tram site right next to it so I could plan a course home. All went according to plan at first. I bought my ticket, validated it correctly and trammed towards my stop. But then the ride became a series of confusing puzzles to solve. The first one happened when we stopped at Suchet. Everyone got off the tram, even though the purple line showed several more stops, including the one I wanted. The conductor told me to get off too, so I followed the crowd, thinking they knew something I didn't. Soon I was in a much larger metro stop that served the tram, the metro train, busses and the regional trains. It took maybe 15 minutes for me to find the same tram line I was previously on to complete my trip. Weird. Why switch to a different tram station for the same line? Nothing was written in English, of course, so I just decided that I'd let it remain a mystery. After waiting another 10 minutes, a representative of the transit system gathered the people on the platform together with, it appeared, a very important message. People were pretty upset by what he was saying, one lady even making such a scene that her little girl began to cry. I didn't understand the words, but got the gist that there was a tram problem. I needed to find another way home. I asked one of the transit workers if he spoke English. Nope. So instead, using a map, I showed him where I was trying to go. He got me started towards home, letting me know I needed to switch trains. That involved another conversation at the next stop, again with a language barrier, but I finally arrived back at our little Lyon home, very proud of my impromptu navigation skills.
Alex and I ate at a little restaurant for dinner. He had snails and then steak. I head this weird but good salad that had copious amounts of green beans on the top of it. Scrabble again. And then to bed, with the window open, hearing the sounds of Lyon at night and enjoying the cool night breeze.
Oh man that museum looks awesome, too bad Alex didn't go.
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