What-What: Musée des Miniatures

Since I was young I have had an obsession with minature things; I used to go to the library in Forks (the little town I grew up) and check out multitudes of magazines on Miniatures and leaf through them.  I once even begged for Filo dough so I could make intricate little foods for my dollhouse- it was so fascinating to me.

This is why the day I ran across the Musée of Miniatures I was ecstatic to visit.  The location is right in the center of Vieux Lyon, near the St. Jean church.  The building is one of those classic Vieux Lyon types, from the 16th century, old stone staircases, dilapidated ceilings, odd smell to the foyer and the serene feeling that thousands of people have passed through the corridor.  The dank smell mixed with the new renovations provides a sense of a hold in time; that weird in-between the past in the future.

Bro is in town for 2 mores days, so we took advantage of yesterday to get our booties into the musée; for only 5.50€ each we started on our adventure.

The first story provides a movie set, meaning, all these special pieces that were used during the filming of a movie.  The one they have on show at the moment is from the movie "Perfume" in which I could write a whole separate blog post about.  Needless to say, a wander through this exhibit made me both curious to watch and curious as to what the movie is even about.  Here's some photos from the premiere etage:

Bro & Bri posing in front of "M. Grenouille" and his Perfume Laboratory

Dead Body.  So, Perfume is a murder story..

The Perfumerie; it actually smelled like roses...

Very authentic-looking 18th century Parisian office

As we continued through the exhibits we felt as if we were looking into the past.  Some of these pieces for the movies are so intricate it was hard to believe it was mostly made of plastic and fake wood.  Incredible.  The next story was specialized in movie props; aliens, Ah-nold, etc.  It was fun to see all the pieces used in the movies, but kind of disheartening because we realized that movies, in reality, are magic.

Rrrrr

Planet of the APES!

 

Ignore the Flash... it's Ah-Nold

Got this for my dad... Star Wars creature!

Moving onto the third story, we ended up in the land of Miniature paradise.  Everything was miniscule and could easily fit in the palm of your hand.  By leaning into the exhibits you felt lost in a tiny world and sometimes it felt as if you were looking at a vivid 3D imagine.

Mini Marché

Reconstruction from Picture, the artist took a photo and created a miniature real version.

Miniature Hallway... it really feels like you're there..

Tiny Nobles Salon.. or.. is it REALLLY tinny..??

Mini Barbershop

Buddhist temple... it was mini.. but so in depth.

We spent about 2 hours in the museum, jumping from exhibit to exhibit.  One of the best exhibits is the specialties of Lyon, mini version of beautiful places around our city.  The artist who created most of these minatures actually works in Lyon; and we got lucky enough to see him in his office behind glass.. it felt surreal.. but we realized it's a man who spends his life in a tiny world.

Needless to say, tourist trap or not, the Musée des Miniatures is a nice thing to do when it's too chilly for a walk.  It's not excessively priced and it's full of interesting information.  They rotate exhibits annually and the movie props alone are worth the excursion.

Practical Information
Musée des Miniatures is located on 60 rue St. Jean in the Maison des Avocats.  They are open daily from 8am to 6:30pm.. and on weekends until 7:00pm.  5.50€ for students!  FYI:  There is a really good boulangerie just catty corner from the Musée, one of the best baguettes in Lyon.

Enjoy!