ETAPE/STEP 8 / 3

Chapeau ! ou plutôt Choixpeau....  magique,
The sorting hat chooses you, well done!


Some clues.....    Express number changed to 6972
(69 = Rhône n°)
Lugdunum "express" is the Roman name of LYON

Griffon/Gryffon  is  an      eagle and..

(rugissements  =  roaring)                    a lion


LYON est historiquement connue pour la fabrication de soie
Famous town for silk   (silk worker : canut)

only = lyon

http://www.maisondescanuts.fr/en/


Je suis une passionnée de miniatures je ne peux donc que vous conseiller d'aller faire un tour
au musée de la miniature et du cinéma....  simplement magique

I'm a great fan of miniature, you must take a look to this museum :

http://www.museeminiatureetcinema.fr/accueil_eng.html


Can't leave the city without talking of Guignol

Guignol is the main character in a French puppet show which has come to bear his name.

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".

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 Flagéolet soon followed, but these are never much more than foils for the two heroes.

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.

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.

I love puppets and one of my project is to repare the "castelet" of my daughters with new red curtains to be able to play new scenes for grandson!

Guignol est une marionnette à gaine française créée à Lyon vers 1808 par Laurent Mourguet. Le terme désigne également par métonymie le théâtre de marionnettes comique dont Guignol est le personnage principal, formant avec Gnafron et Madelon le trio récurrent des pièces du répertoire classique.

Le spectacle se pratique dans un castelet, selon la technique du burattino ou « marionnette à gaine » dont les particularités impliquent une gestuelle spécifique et des accessoires disproportionnés donnant lieu à un comique de situation caractéristique de la commedia dell'arte.

Emblème de la ville de Lyon, Guignol est tout à la fois l'héritier des traditions du xix^e siècle, chantre du parler lyonnais et support vivant des traditions théâtrales du spectacle français de la marionnette. Guignol est à l'origine de salles de spectacle, de compagnies, d'une littérature et d'une historiographie abondantes, d'une imagerie populaire comique et sert de support à divers types de médias et spectacles.

Bougre de phénomène de moule à gaufres de tonnerre de Brest....
ne manquez pas le prochain départ !

Ten thousand thundering typhoons..  don't miss next departure!