Last week I was in the French Alps skiing and on Saturday, on the long drive back to the UK, made an overnight stop in the medieval town of Troyes. Heading out of the hotel for dinner, I spotted a leaflet with old tools on the cover.
Here's what I found:
http://www.maison-de-l-outil.com/index.php
An entire museum devoted to all kinds of handtools - woodworking, blacksmithing, leather-working, bookbinding. stonemasonry - you name it.
Unfortunately, I only had an hour before it closed, and I didn't have a camera with me, but here's a tiny taste:
There aren't many pictures online, but if you go to the website, select English language from the left-hand menu, and then click Collections/Tools from the top menu, there's a three-minute video tour that's well worth the time.
The collection (around 10,000 tools and 35,000 books on crafts and tools) are the work of a French Jesuit, Paul Feller. You can see a two-minute French TV clip on Feller here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wdTmhzgfb0
It includes a few shots inside the museum.
I'd never heard of the museum before - it must rank as one of the best-kept secrets in galootdom. The building itself is stunning, timber construction from the mid-1600s. Highly recommended for anyone visiting north-east France.
Here's what I found:
http://www.maison-de-l-outil.com/index.php
An entire museum devoted to all kinds of handtools - woodworking, blacksmithing, leather-working, bookbinding. stonemasonry - you name it.
Unfortunately, I only had an hour before it closed, and I didn't have a camera with me, but here's a tiny taste:
There aren't many pictures online, but if you go to the website, select English language from the left-hand menu, and then click Collections/Tools from the top menu, there's a three-minute video tour that's well worth the time.
The collection (around 10,000 tools and 35,000 books on crafts and tools) are the work of a French Jesuit, Paul Feller. You can see a two-minute French TV clip on Feller here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wdTmhzgfb0
It includes a few shots inside the museum.
I'd never heard of the museum before - it must rank as one of the best-kept secrets in galootdom. The building itself is stunning, timber construction from the mid-1600s. Highly recommended for anyone visiting north-east France.
