Lavish receptions and royal entries

It is not always very easy to convince children to go to a museum. They are inclined to think that it is a punishment and extra school-time. This is a pity, when you just have to know how to handle them!

The Gadagne museum, for instance, invites families to discover the arts of the table in the «Musée des Arts Décoratifs» or, being guided, in the second part of the program, through the «Musée des Beaux Arts» to admire, via the exhibited works, the arts of the table and banquets. With, for instance, the discovery of the most beautiful  Flemish and Dutch still-lifes, 16th century earthenware, the presentation of the large baroque dining hall of the "Abbaye Royale des dames de Saint Pierre" and representations of banquets. The visit doesn't last more than one hour...

It continues, with a guide from the Gadagne Museum, to the places in Lyon which were marked by what was called, during successive monarchies, royal entries.

They are the forerunners of official visits by Heads of State official which didn't lack in panache. One of the most significant is the one by Louis XIII in 1622 or even the one by Henri IV for the occasion of which the town organized numerous great libations.

This kind of reception used to cost the town a fortune, but it was well worth it. Foreign bankers, from Switzerland, Italy or Germany paid for it out of their own pockets since they were sure that kindnesses and privileges from the monarch would fall upon their businesses.

Wine flowed freely from fountains and the general population itself was invited to the revelries. Every kind of craftsman were involved, carpenters, for instance, built up temporary triumphal arches and the Saint Nizier Church has kept a record of these sumptuous feasts on its stained-glass windows.

Children, who are on holiday, are invited to participate in role plays all along the tour.

At the end of the visit which lasts about 2h in all, everybody meets up around a snack in the large courtyard of the "Hôtel Cour des Loges", an historical place totally in phase with the tour.