Mary@MaryBrush.com     restorechic@mac.com     www.marybrush.com

  October 1, 2005      

There is a saying out there, somewhat like this:

A man walks into a construction site and sees 3 men at work carving stone.  To each he asks the same question: ‘What are you doing?’ 

The First responds ‘earning a living.’ 

The Second responds ‘carving a stone.’ 

The Third responds ‘ building a cathedral.’ 

The Third is a Compagnon du Devoir de la Tour de France.

I have just spent the past two weeks being indoctrinated in my own ‘Tour de France du Grande Vitesse.’   This was a high speed in troduction to the formation of a Compagnon and several of their institutes specializing in each of the building trades. This is really best explained if you have a map of France with you just to understand the distances covered in 2 weeks time.

Monday: Paris
Tuesday: Angers
Thursday: Lille
Sunday: Perigueux
Tuesday: Nantes
Wednesday: Rodez
Thursday: Troyes
Friday: Paris

There are 25 metiers or crafts represented by the Compagnons du Devoir, 10 of which are the building trades.  The others vary from vehicle design to bread making and leathercraft.

The formation of a Compagnon is quite intricate. 

A young man or woman is  accepted as a ‘jeune’  interested in one of the 25 ‘metiers.’  The process of training includes the respect for and use of the traditional tools,  the history of the craft, the tools for existing in todays world including language and computers, and the development of each young person into a responsible adult. 

They live together in  the many houses throughout France, and  eventually start to work in a contracting company of their trade.  They continue to live in the houses throughout France every few months dependent upon their knowledge and skill level.  After 5 or 6 years they produce an object or demonstrate their skill both in the craft and as a responsible adult.  They are judged by their peers and predecessors before being welcomed into the world of the Compagnons.

It is in a way an evolution of a guild or apprenticeship, but it keeps the trades together under the same house - so the mutual respect for the complexity of each trade is ingrained. The pride of the craft, the skill of the hand and the head together create the work of art of each metier. That combined with the life lessons of the Compagnons and it is an impressive and responsible way of forming young adults in the chosen craft.

The Tour de France does actually go beyond France - even to the United States. Two Compagnons of metalwork were instrumental in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. Another was recently in the United States carving the stone for a residential chimney.

The challenge is to retain the historical knowledge and hand skills of the evolution of each craft and to evolve to meet todays demands of time and technology.

My personal tour introduced me to both the Compagnons in several of the houses, to several contractors, and eventually a bit of hands on skill building.  I now have a huge appreciation for carving stone - even the tools are heavy!

Each house has objects created by the aspiring Compagnons as their item to be judged prior to their acceptance.  These models include numerous scale maquettes of roofs, plaster, stone carving, to name a few.

Each person that I met was extra ordinarily kind and generous with their time - to such a degree that due to the speed of my travel, several tours of their towns were conducted at midnight.

The in-depth tour into the  tools and intricacy of each trade enhanced my appreciation of both the details and the buildings as a whole as I traveled with each Compagnon.

It was a great experience. I hope to encourage the exchange of both Compagnons on their tour to visit the United States, and for Americans into the Compagnons experience. 

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Compagnons are encouraged to visit their website:

www.compagnons-du-devoir.com

or contact M. Jacques-Antoine Frouin at aoct.frouin@wanadoo.fr