During the Renaissance Lyon prospered as a printing and silk weaving industry. Half the inhabitants were silk workers (canuts). Crux-Rousse district was home to many small silk workshops. There is very little remaining of the industry today due to technology (Jacquard loom), an illness that wiped out the French silk worm, and the building of the Suez Canal that led to easier access to Chinese silks. We visited one of the remaining silk workshops, L’Atelier de Soierie. This shop only prints and paints the silk. The weaving takes place in other shops. And all the silk now comes from Brazil. The entire district sits on a very steep hill with a lot of graffiti covered buildings.
We had lunch at a Rick Steves’ recommended spot, Les Lyonaisse. The best part was sharing a table with a French couple who were also retired and loved art, music, travel. They gave us good advice for Vienna & on which desert to have.
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