Guignol de l'Ile

The Guignol de l'Ile sits on a small island in the Seine, housed in a theater that feels like a permanent fixture of a local fairground. Its bright red and yellow timber frame stands out against the greenery of the park. Robert Desarthis founded this puppetry tradition here in nineteen thirty-six, bringing the classic Lyonnais character Guignol to the Paris suburbs. The theater hosts regular performances that keep alive a style of glove puppetry that once dominated the street corners of nineteenth century France.