Daytrip to Trévoux

We have noticed our attitudes toward historic sites has morphed during our stay in France.  We are now finding ourselves saying things like “Just 18^th century?  I’d rather go see something old.”   The good news is that there are beaucoup de nice, old villages nearby that are perfect destinations for day trips.  With that in mind we’ve driven to several of these villages and will be glad to share our discoveries.  (This is a cue for those of you who are ODing on old villages to tune out.)

We paged through our copy of Michelin's "The 100 Most Beautiful Detours in France" and decided to check out Trévoux, one of the places close to Lyon.  And so, Saturday, May 21^st, we got into our rental car and drove to Trévoux.  Trévoux is a lovely little town in Beaujolais just 30 km (~18 ½ miles) north of  Lyon.  We had a very pleasant drive through the countryside to this spot in the Saône Valley.  Trévoux is located right on banks of Saône and definitely was living up to its title of one of the “Most Beautiful Places for a Short Stay in France” (per the Ministry of Culture).  The city has done a great job of taking advantage of its picturesque location and has river-side parks and bicycle/pedestrian paths.  There is also a river boat that cruises up and down the river and docks at Trévoux.

Here's a picture we took from a view point above the village.

Beacuse of its location on the river, it has been recognized as a strategic spot as far back as Charlemagne's time, and thus, the obvious site for a château-fort.  This fort dates back to the 14^th century and boasts an unusual, octagonal, dual-colored tower.  The tower is still there, but most of the rest of the fort is in ruins.  We wandered around and explored and were impressed with what is left, including this arched gateway that David is standing in and the octogonal, dual-colored tower.

David is standing just inside a gate to the fort.

The fort tower is impressive both from a defensive and decorative standpoint.

An interesting surprise!  We found out that Trévoux is the home of the “argue”, a device developed in the 18^th century to draw precious metals into wires used in embroidery and jewelry.  This device  actually stretches the metal which is then fed through dies and becomes wire.  It’s a fascinating process – the metal must proceed at exactly the right, constant speed to make this work.  Must have been quite the challenge when they had to rely on men pushing a turnstile!  Something to think about next time you admire embroidery with gold or silver in it or a delicate piece of jewelry.

This demonstration shows how the process used to work.  The folks on the left are turning the turnstile which feeds the metal to the man on the right who draws the metal through the die to make wire.

Here are some of the dies used in the past.  As you can see some of the holes are quite small.

Amazing what we are finding in our “backyard”!