YDYtravelers: Going on a mass tour and surviving to the end for the first time ever

I hate large group tours, as I think I’ve written about, oh, 10 times or so already. So, it was odd that I found myself in one today. Here’s the thing: I wanted to see Lyon’s famous traboules (see description below) and the only way to get in to many of them is with a tour. So, the day started outside the train station, milling about with many, many other people. I was fitted with earbuds and a receiver to allow me to hear the tour guide over the noise of so many people. Then we all began the sad walk of those trapped behind their guide, a herd of humans plugged together in the misery of generic facts. When Mom, George and I toured the church by our house, St. Jean, I remember feeling sorry for a tour group such as this, and today, I found myself back in that church, in that very group. Sad.

So the whole point of all of this was to see traboules. What’s a traboule, you ask? Here’s Wikipedia to the rescue: “Traboules (from Latin transambulare via vulgar Latin trabulare meaning "to cross") are a type of passageway primarily associated with the city of Lyon, France. They were originally used by silk manufacturers and other merchants to transport their products. The first examples of traboules are thought to have been built in Lyon in the 4th century. Lacking water, the inhabitants moved to the banks of the Saone river. The traboules thus allowed them to get from their homes to the river quickly and are often credited with helping prevent the occupying Germans from taking complete control of these areas during World War II. The layout of Vieux Lyon is such that there are very few connecting streets running perpendicular to the river. The traboules allowed workmen and craftsmen to transport clothes and other textiles through the city while remaining sheltered from inclement weather. For many inhabitants, being a "true Lyonnais" requires being knowledgeable about the city's traboules.”

So there’s your lesson for the day. So much Wikipedia knowledge on this blog! I survived this tour with grit and stamina, often wanting to run away, but then sucked back in when we saw something new. Happily, it was over after two hours and also I was able to see many very cool traboules and learned a bit too. I picked Mom up after the tour and our Georgo stayed back at the apartment so sleep, as teens do. First on the agenda was to take a trip to the post office again, in order to send more of our things home. We waited for the post office to open nearby at the site of a ruin of a 150 AD church, and there was a group of French schoolchildren playing among them. Imagine that. Recess climbing over ancient ruins. It’s a different life over here for sure.

Afterwards, we visited the very cool Cinema and Miniatures musuem, a place that I’d seen in 2017. We really only checked out the miniatures portion of the musuem, but it was excellent. See the pictures below. Many of the scenes look quite realistic. Afterward, we enjoyed crepes and coffee at a nearby place and then followed up with a visit to the puppet and Lyon history musuem. History wasn’t on the agenda, so instead we hung with marionettes for a bit. Shopping happened afterwards, with some gifts procured for those at home. We did have one lovely exchange with the proprietor of a silk scarf shop. He’s from Lyon, but speaks Italian, so I was able to have a conversation, for the first time, with another person in Italian and it went pretty well. Then, he showed us his other shop, below the silk scarf one. He’s got a Hookah den. What a strange combo. It works for him, though, and our time with him was pretty cool. Oh, and scarves were purchased.

Dinner happened at an Italian place, mainly because Lyonnais food is, well, meaty. And weird meaty. Like kidneys and brains and all that. So instead of the traditional meatery, we had pasta. And wine. And good talk. Afterwards we took an evening walk in the pretty streets of Lyon, for the last time. We leave for our final stop on this trip tomorrow. See you in Torino, Italy tomorrow!

Ancient church ruin