File:Rue Saint-Jean, Vieux Lyon - Le Petit Musée de Guignol (34710319633).jpg

A guided walking tour of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieux_Lyon" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Vieux Lyon</a>. The tour would take around an hour.

The Vieux Lyon (English: Old Lyon) is the largest Renaissance district of Lyon in the 5th arrondissement of Lyon.

This zone is served by the metro line D

In 1954, Vieux-Lyon, the city's oldest district, became the first site in France to be protected under the Malraux law to protect France's cultural sites. Covering an area of 424 hectares at the foot of the Fourvière hill, it is one of Europe’s most extensive Renaissance neighborhoods. There are three distinct sections: Saint Jean, Saint Paul and Saint Georges.

The Saint Jean quarter: in the Middle Ages, this was the focus of political and religious power. The Cathedral of St Jean, seat of the Primate of Gaul, a title still conferred upon the archbishop of Lyon, is a good example of Gothic architecture. The Manecanterie adjoining the cathedral is one of Lyon's few extant Romanesque buildings. Formerly a choir school, it now houses the museum of the cathedral’s treasures. Saint Jean is also home to the Museum of Miniatures and Film Sets, located in a building that was the Golden Cross Inn in the 15th century.

The Saint-Paul section: in the 15th and 16th centuries predominately Italian banker-merchants moved into sumptuous urban residences here called hôtels particuliers. The Hôtel Bullioud and the Hôtel de Gadagne are two magnificent examples and the latter now houses the Lyon Historical Museum and the International Puppet Museum. The Loge du Change stands as testimony to the period when trade fairs made the city wealthy. The Saint Paul church with its Romanesque lantern tower and its spectacular spire mark the section’s northern extremity.

The Saint Georges section: silk weavers settled here beginning in the 16th century before moving to the Croix Rousse hill in the 19th century. In 1844, the architect Pierre Bossan rebuilt the St George's Church on the banks of the Saônein a neo-Gothic style. In the Middle Ages, when there were only a few parallel streets between the hill and the Saône, the first traboules were built. Derived from the Latin trans-ambulare, meaning to pass through, traboules are corridors through buildings and their courtyards, connecting one street directly with another. Visitors can discover an architectural heritage of galleries and spiral staircases in these secret passageways, as unexpected as they are unique.

On Rue Saint-Jean.

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guignol" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Guignol</a> - puppet theatre.

Guignol is the main character in a French puppet show which has come to bear his name. It represents the workers in the silk industry of France, Europe.

Although often thought of as children's entertainment, Guignol's sharp wit and linguistic verve have always been appreciated by adults as well, as shown by the motto of a prominent Lyon troupe: "Guignol amuses children… and witty adults".

Laurent Mourguet, Guignol's creator, was born into a family of modest silk weavers on March 3, 1769. The certificate of his marriage to Jeanne Esterle in 1788 shows he was unable to read. When hard times fell on the silk trade during the French Revolution, he became a peddler, and in 1797 started to practice dentistry, which in those days was simply the pulling of teeth. The service was free; the money was made from the medicines sold afterward to ease the pain. To attract patients, he started setting up a puppet show in front of his dentist's chair. In the end, his strategy worked very well to his advantage.

His first shows featured Polichinelle, a character borrowed from the Italian commedia dell'arte who in England would become Punch. By 1804 the success was such that he gave up dentistry altogether and became a professional puppeteer, creating his own scenarios drawing on the concerns of his working-class audience and improvising references to the news of the day. He developed characters closer to the daily lives of his Lyon audience, first Gnafron, a wine-loving cobbler, and in 1808 Guignol. Other characters, including Guignol's wife Madelon and the gendarme Flageolet soon followed, but these are never much more than foils for the two heroes.

Although nominally a silkweaver like much of his original audience, Guignol's profession changes, as does his marital status; he can be in turn valet, peddler, carpenter, shoemaker, or unemployed; at times he is Madelon's husband, at times her smitten suitor according to requirements of the scenario. What remain constant are his poverty, but more importantly his good humor and his sense of justice. The use in French of "guignol" as an insult meaning "buffoon" is a curious misnomer, as Guignol is clever, courageous and generous; his inevitable victory is always the triumph of good over evil.

Sixteen of Mourguet's children and grandchildren continued his tradition, and many of the companies performing today can trace their heritage back to him. According to the era, the region, or the performers, Guignol's original caustic satire has often been watered down to simple children's fare, and has even been used to parody grand opera, but his original spirit still survives in his hometown of Lyon, where both traditional and original contemporary performances are an integral part of local culture. In addition to his social satire, Guignol has become an important protector of the local dialect, the parler lyonnais.

<a href="http://www.musee-de-guignol.fr/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">Le Petit Musée de Guignol</a>