Musée du Compagnonnage

I didn't get up to that much last week so I'll keep it short. I'm trying to write once a week so I'll have a sort of record to look back on but obviously some weeks are more eventful than others!

Apart from an Erasmus night out on Thursday and the tragic death of my laptop, life's been feeling fairly uneventful (we've all got exams to revise for etc.). But I think it only feels that way because I've got so used to taking trips at the weekend and spontaneous touristy/cultural days out. I don't want to miss anything while I'm here but equally I'm trying to balance that with catching up on sleep and attempting to actually pass my exams.

This week I've got to make a presentation for my french language class on either a work of art or a cultural visit, so I decided I could justify a trip to the Musée du Compagnonnage on Monday with Eilish. I've been meaning to go for ages as it always comes up near the top of lists of things to see in Tours, and it's on the main high street in Tours, Rue Nationale, so I see it most days. It's in a really impressive building which is tucked back slightly from the high street, as you enter through the gift shop. The museum's attatched to Église Saint-Julien de Tours (which is currently undergoing restoration and was apparently turned into a stables during the Revolution(!) ), and has all kinds of displays of tools, commerative objects, and pieces of work made by the various Unions and Freemasons etc. from the area. It was suprisingly interesting and taught me a lot about the history of the area, but also the french attitude to craftsmanship and artisanry. My favourites were probably the Boulangers (bien sûr), the various masons, and the unexplained ''Bourgeois turkey'' cigarette holder.

The 'Bourgeois turkey'

This is a cake!

'Temple du devoir' made of pasta