Lyon – Days 3 & 4 (Musée des Tissus)

September 24, 2014 by lafrancoysse 1 Comment

It is now time to go to the Musée des Tissus! The travel schedule being what it was, this was the very last thing I planned to see, and yet it is one of the highlights of my trip!

The Promised Land – and what a great sign: the warp and weft of fabric

I’ve spent the last two days (Sept 23rd & 24th) at the library of the Musée des Tissus. My mission has been to get an idea of what information is in the library here. Getting information written in French (or on a French topic) can be somewhat difficult when in the U.S. The inter-library loan system there is a wonderful thing, but it can only get things that are held by libraries in its access network. Often, works written in French are not in too many U.S. libraries. The Bibliothèque Nationale (national library of France) has a lovely on-line catalog. But that library is a bit complicated to get into (a trip in the future, no doubt). However, I knew that this library at the Musée des Tissus existed (from a previous trip to the museum), and I knew that it was open to the public. What I did not know was what they had (or did not have) with respect to my research. This seemed especially important as some of my research now involves figuring out 16thC textiles. As I had not been able to access their library on-line, a visit seemed the best solution. Here’s the reading room of the library, where I’ve spent a good bit of the last two days….

A font of great textile knowledge

This has been a wonderful experience! I have been able to check various works that I have wanted to see, found one or two new ones, and gained what I think will be useful information for various aspects of my research. I was even able to purchase a textile vocabulary book published by CIETA (Centre International d’Étude des Textiles Anciens). I had found a copy of this at Cornell’s library, but I have needed to look up other things since then. So I am very happy to have my own copy! Anyway, much to work on when I get back home! And best of all…..Several weeks before I left, I initiated contact with the library to let them know I was coming. At that time, I recognized that their website had undergone a radical redesign. All I really thought then was “I’m glad the website is so much easier to use”. What I didn’t realize was that this new website now provides some on-line access to their library holdings…and I didn’t even know this until today, when a class of students was in getting some sort of orientation. While I was sitting there doing work, I could hear their professor telling them how they could access the library’s holdings on-line….what? on-line? really? How cool is that? When I got back to my hotel room (and internet access), I checked it out, and, lo and behold, I did find a place to search the catalog. Whether this search facility is going to be useful remains to be seen. But it is wonderful that it exists (and boy am I glad I didn’t know this until after I got here 😉

Because I’ve just spent my time sitting in that chair by the little yellow purse (in the previous photo), I don’t have much in the way of photos to share. Instead, my research notebook is bulging with new information to process and I have some photocopies from a magazine that I’ve tried several ways to get my hands on. Life is good. On my walk to the library this morning, however, I did come across today’s “bit with the dog”: these faithful canines waiting for their human to come out of a store…the boucherie (butcher store). You can’t tell in this still photo, but the black dog’s tail was wagging…in anticipation, I suspect.

Human, remember to get some ground sirloin for your faithful dogs!

On the food front, I have just been eating the hotel breakfast and lunch. The museum library closes from 12:30 to 2pm for lunch. So I have been exploring lunch places nearby. Yesterday’s lunch was a lovely crêpe filled with lots of spinach and two fried eggs, accompanied, of course, by a boule of cidre brut (hard cider). Today, I had a lovely salad that had, over a huge pile of greens, 2 halves of a potato (in its skin), each with a slab of goat cheese on top. I only got through one of the halves! And I think those potatoes were cooked in some kind of broth (butter?)…or maybe potatoes just taste better here? My lovely green mint tea ended the meal because then it was time to get back to work!

Tomorrow morning (Thursday) I will spend a bit more time in the library. And then I’ll begin my trek back to Paris. Whether I am heading for a plane flight, is, however, still up for debate. Air France is in the midst of a pilot’s strike. So at this point, I don’t know if I’ll have a return flight to get onto on Friday. And it’s still to far in the future to find out whether my flight has been cancelled. So the next day or so might be kinda interesting as I figure out how to get home….oh no, do I have to stay in France? Though I must admit, I am ready to get home, see my beloved and my dogs, and process all the information that I’ve gathered on this wonderful trip. I don’t know whether I’ll have more blog entries for you or not…depends on how long I end up staying here. If all goes according to the current plan (an unlikely possibility), I will only be here for one more day. Whether I get the chance to do another entry is unknown. But in any case, it’s been a great trip…..Thanks, Jim, for making this trip possible. And thanks to you all for following along! Au revoir!