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Final Thoughts

Some final thoughts on my trip and this will be my last for now.

An enduring memory will certainly be all the daffodils that were coming up in the lawns.

An enduring memory will certainly be all the daffodils that were coming up in the lawns.

Highlights:
It is certainly very difficult to try and pick out one thing/place that I would consider a highlight – there were so many. The whole trip was one “gihugeic” highlight; the people, the places, the architecture, the country, the atmosphere, the food, the sun, the rain, the colors, oh yes, THE CLOCKS. I have run out of words to express it.

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Lowlights:
I don’t think there were any real lowlights – all was worthwhile. One regret would be that I didn’t know the French language better – that would have made it even more enjoyable. Getting up early wasn’t great but that’s par for the course on something like this and one of the reasons that we were able to see so much. Not being able to enjoy some of the towns a little longer – but that is normal for doing any kind of traveling like this, you can never see it all.

Classic city France - Toulouse

Classic city France – Toulouse

Learning:
It is hard to say specifically what I learned. I got to see history, see things that most people do not get to see, go places that most people don’t get to go – this is not important in itself but it is the context of the things and places that makes them significant. Knowing history is important so that we learn from those that have gone before us. In addition to the writings that may have been left to us, the physical artifacts that remain also teach us about the people that made them, about their times, about their values and their lives. These things hopefully help us understand ourselves better and learn to live fuller, more meaningful and enjoyable lives. By honoring those that came before us, we honor ourselves and each other. I learned that it is important to leave something behind for future generations. Things that may not seem important now but they become more important as time passes by.

Still My Favorite Clock
Most important, I learned to leave something of myself – it is good to write even if you do not do it well, it represents you and your thought process so that others can get to know you, your thoughts, your feelings and values – what is important to you. You can also leave something you made. Many of the things we saw were things that someone made. Knowing why or how they were made or used is important, so the context is understood. Context is critical to understanding the importance of things.

I saw this etching in a couple different places we went. I like the feeling it gives. The translated title is "The Village Clockmaker".

I saw this etching in a couple different places we went. I like the feeling it gives. The translated title is “The Village Clockmaker”.

So, given all the ramblings above, what I am more passionate about than ever is to be able to help preserve objects (mostly clocks) from the past and to preserve as much as I can glean about their context as well and make it not so hard for others to see, hear, and learn from that.

Bon voyage to you all and au revoir,
Mostyn

The cutest place ever! (Best lunch too!)

Friday, 26-April-2013

This was the cutest restaurant especially inside.

This was the cutest restaurant especially inside.

I think that I said that our lunch in Morteau was the best, well perhaps this one tops it. The town of Charroux was way cuter and this restaurant was done up so nice – very artistic. All the plates/course were like samplers of various things – it was really ice to try several things.

The surprising appetizer was the mustard one - definitely the best.

The surprising appetizer was the mustard one – definitely the best.

 

The appetizers were a sampling of a moriangue like cookie of black mustard and black grape (it’s the earl one with Bly one left). Then there was a cheese cracker type thing, an egg puff (don’t know what else to call it), and a cheese bread. These came with a cider type drink that had some prune juice and also seemed to have some brandy in it.

Wish you could taste these - very different favors.

Wish you could taste these – very different favors.

 

 

 

Next course was foie gras (in the back of the photo), then to the right of that was veggies with (raw) salmon. It wasn’t fishy though – I really liked it. Then, in the front of the picture was a very nice stuffed zuchini, and finally there was a lobster or crawfish (not my favorite but still good)

All of these were very good!

All of these were very good!

 

 

Next, the main entree was chicken (breast and leg) with white vinegar and wine, then in the back of the photo, a lamb wrap, then, a carrot purée, then potatoes with bacon, and in the front, boneless lamb ribs.

The macaroon was the best - a raspberry filling!

The macaroon was the best – a raspberry filling!

 

Dessert was again a sampling: a macaroon in front, then a pineapple sorbet, then a lemon tart, and finally, a chocolate moose cake. The plate was decorated with passion fruit and strawberry flames.

 

 

We did eat lunch in other places as well but I have shared the best ones.

I haven’t mentioned anything about breakfast – not a whole lot to write home about but all the hotels offered a free breakfast with a lot of choices, including scrambled eggs and sausage, cereals, juices, croissants and rolls, espresso or other types of coffee. There were some slight variations on this theme, like one place had the option of a do it yourself boiled egg.

Well, that’s it for the food journey – I think I managed to not put on too much weight by all the walking we did and only eating two meals a day.

Bon appetit!

Lunch in Morteau

Thursday, 25-April-2013
If it seems like I am going backwards in time, that is because I am. I said in a previous post that I would try to get back to describing lunch in Morteau – well here it is. (By the way, there is another lunch description coming.)

This hotel was nicely branded.

This hotel was nicely branded.

This was a lunch that you would have had to pay a lot of money for – it was over the top. The restaurant was called La France – it was in the village where we saw the watch keys and was originally started by the man who owned the watch keys, Yves Droz, but was now run by his daughter in law.

The ubiquitous bread & wine.

The ubiquitous bread & wine.

We started out with the wine and bread – it was kind of funny that the waitress that brought out the bread just placed it on the table cloth. I think you will see that on some of the pictures.

The appetizer looks like a strip of bacon but it was actually a thin bread stick.

The appetizer looks like a strip of bacon but it was actually a thin bread stick.

Second half of the appetizer.

Second half of the appetizer.

 

 

 

 

After that came two appetizers, one was a piece of thin bread stick, slightly salty but good. The second was a warm squash purée with a beet garnish – very good.

The first course was probably enough for a whole meal.

The first course was probably enough for a whole meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we got into the first course which was a very good, sausage and potatoes – heavy enough to have made up the whole meal. These were very good; the sausage was not strangely spicy, just good and meaty, the potatoes were a little like au gratin.

Emulsion Temporaire a.k.a. palette cleanser.

Emulsion Temporaire a.k.a. palette cleanser.

 

Then came the palette cleanser – not sure I have ever had one of these before as an intentional part of a meal but it was good – kind of like a milky drink. I am not sure that it helped me enjoy the meal any more than of I had not had it – the people who feel this kind of thing is important must have awfully fine palettes, or they are as crazy as clock people who can spend a long time just watching an escape wheel go around.

Salmon in lobster sauce

Salmon in lobster sauce

The main course was salmon with red quinoa Ina lobster sauce. This tasted way better than it sounded to me. I expected something heavy and overpowered with lobster flavor but it wasn’t – it was perfect and the portion size was smallish which was a good thing given how much else was in the meal.

This was much lighter than it looks.

This was much lighter than it looks.

 

And then to dessert, which like the appetizer came in two parts. The main part was a layered raspberry and pine tree ice with creme topping. I am not sure about the pine tree ice because what seemed to be the frozen part was the creme – not at all what I expected. This was surprisingly light – it looks pretty heavy but was very delightful – I didn’t have any trouble downing the whole thing.

Little sweets.

Little sweets.

 

The second part of dessert was a selection of little sweets. We didn’t get a whole tray for each person – just selected something interesting to us. I actually had two – one was a marshmallow type of thing and the other like a caramelized sugar lollipop.

 

This was probably my favorite meal of the whole trip – and we had some excellent food. More on the way –

Rainy Toulouse

Saturday, 28-April-2013

I did not see anyone buying this paella but when we came out of the museum at noon his place was closed down.

I did not see anyone buying this paella but when we came out of the museum at noon his place was closed down.

Today we visited two museums; the first was in the small town of L’isle Jourdain about a half hour drive west of Toulouse. This little town had its farmers market day in the square right in front of the museum we were going to and since we arrived a bit early we had a chance to do some looking around. The most fun part of this for me was the large pots of food that were being cooked. Take a look at this huge pot of paella with shrimp and mussels on top!

 This one is not a particularly fancy one.

This one is not a particularly fancy one.

The Musee Europeen d’Art Campanaire was a very interesting local museum. It focuses on bells and tower clocks. The bells were interesting, being based on the development of bells for use on domestic livestock but they had expanded it to development of bells and uses throughout the world. These bells for livestock were specific to the region and developed into quite elaborate things. Fun to see a museum doing something to broaden their local folks to the international community. It was an interactive museum so they had lots of bells sounding off around the museum. They even had a carrillon that one of our members was invited to play.

Jim Chamberlain plays the carillon

The Bastille clock - the clock keeper that took care of all the clocks in the museum is in the background of the picture.

The Bastille clock – the clock keeper that took care of all the clocks in the museum is in the background of the picture.

The tower clocks were, of course the most interesting. The most interesting to me was one that they said was the only remaining piece of the Bastille that has remained after the revolution. All, or almost all, of the tower clocks were operating or operable. They had a nice display of four clocks that demonstrated the development through the centuries.

The date indications are on the big wheel in the bottom left.  The man points to the current date and the woman on the very bottom show what to name the child.

The date indications are on the big wheel in the bottom left. The man points to the current date and the woman on the very bottom show what to name the child.

There was also a unique clock that had a date function with an indicator with the list of saints for each day. There was an indicator for the current day and also an indicator for the day exactly nine months previous. This was used to name a child after a saint based on the day of conception.

After a few hours in this museum we went back to Toulouse for a very nice lunch (this will be in another post if I get to it).

 

 

 

 

The astrolabe part of a Janvier clock. The astrolabe was made in 1773.

The astrolabe part of a Janvier clock. The astrolabe was made in 1773.

In the afternoon we went to the Musee Dupuy. This museum had an excellent historical collection as well as some great pieces by clockmaker Janvier, Berthoud and makers local to Toulouse.

We also had a demonstration of a musical clock. Sorry that the video doesn’t show the moving parts of the clock very well – the whole clock is so large and the moving parts quite small. But this is the best I could do. There is a lady who plays a music box by cranking a handle and then there is a small bird on the right hand side that “mimics” the music box. Our guide, who is a member of the clock organization there and the official watch keeper of the museum gives a little intro before the demonstration. I had trouble relating the explanation with the actual musical part but oh well, the music sounds very nice.

The musical clock

This was the only day that we had any significant rain but it did not put a damper on our visits. It was a little bit cold to be standing outside for long and may have prevented some of us from walking back to the hotel instead of taking the bus.

We ended the day and the tour with a banquet at the hotel. While the food was not the worst we ate during the trip, it was also not the best. We all shared something that surprised us about the trip – for me it was how many times I was simply aghast (in a good way) at what we had in front of us – from the vast stores of the CNAM, where we were cut loose to wander, to the simple but fantastic collection of tower clocks in Charroux, I was continually taken aback at how rich a treasure we had in front of us. A very worthwhile trip. And it was nice to meet others who were as interested in these things as myself. We are an odd group – people who don’t get tired of talking about clocks and watches.

Tomorrow I get a different kind of experience – riding the TGV back to Paris. And then I will be flying back to the US from Charles de Gaulle airport. I wish it didn’t take me two whole days to get home but it will give me a few days to try to rework my sleeping and eating habits to recondition from jet lag.

Tower Clock Heaven

Three floors full of working tower clocks and he had a very good collection of Comtoise clocks as well.

Here are some of the Comtoise clocks.

Here are some of the Comtoise clocks.

Tic tac toe anyone?

Tic tac toe anyone?

Animated pendulum

Two types of pendulums

Nice verge & foliot

Pin pallet escapement

Verge and crown wheel

Pin and pallet at right angles

Our last day tomorrow!

Classic French Countryside

Friday, 26-April-2013
Today we took a big long bus trip from Morteau in the northeast of France to the Toulouse in the south. In all it took about 9 hours of diving time but it didn’t seem that long. We left the hotel at 7:00 am and at 11:00 we arrived at the very neat little town of Charroux, almost exactly in the center of France. This town probably has an interesting history that I don’t know about but it was built in a circle and the houses are old streets narrow.

A small street in the town. Check out the cat in the front right - just hanging out.

A small street in the town. Check out the cat in the front right – just hanging out.

There were two attractions in the town in addition to being a good stopping/rest point about half way in our journey; there was a private collection of tower clocks and a very nice restaurant, neither of which could handle a group our size. So we split the group in two and while one group ate lunch the other looked at tower clocks. And then we switched. It all worked out very nice.

Here the town clock tower an the guy that collected all the clocks.

Here’s the town clock tower and the guy that collected all the clocks.

The lunch was very nice, again (I will have to try to write a post on that) and the clocks were also amazing. Out in the middle of nowhere this guy had been collecting clocks. He had a whole three story house full of them and most of the were working. In addition to tower clocks, he also had some Comtoise clocks that were very nice. He had done a really nice job displaying all of these in addition to the large dials in some cases. I’ll put some photos and movies into another post so you can get a feel for how amazing this house of clocks is.

 

Don't you just love this. Lots of spring flowers around this time of year making everything very special.

Don’t you just love this. Lots of spring flowers around this time of year making everything very special.

 

Time to get back on the bus,

Morteau Meadows

25-April-2013
Today we had a really nice trip to the small town of Morteau, it is in the mountains not too far from here. This region was the watch making center of France for many years and developed a particular kind of clock called a Morbier or Comtoise clock.

Here is what some of the country looks like around Morteau. It was a nice bus ride.

Here is what some of the country looks like around Morteau. It was a nice bus ride.

Many of the towns in this are used to be clock and watch making beehives but now have deteriorated and Morteau, even though it was not one of the biggest watch and clock making centers, has done a nice job of preserving their horological history while others have done not much at all. In particular, they had a large collection of watch making tools. But they also had good examples of a wide variety of horological items.

After the visit to this museum we had probably the best lunch we have had here put on by relatives of Yves Droz. See separate post in this when I get to it.

This key includes woven human hair. Sometimes they make pictures out of the hair.

This key includes woven human hair. Sometimes they make pictures out of the hair.

Then, after lunch, we were really glad to walk a bit, so we had a short walk to the home of Yves Droz who has probably the world’s largest collection of watch keys. Some of you might be wondering what a watch keys is – well before the winding knob (that we all think of as being so common on watches) was invented people used to have to wind their watch with a key. I have never paid much attention to these things but it was. Astonishing how many different types of keys there are. It was very kind of these folks to host us in their home and nice to see how some people live here.

Here's a key that looks like a Swiss Army knife. I am not sure when this was made but it is several hundred years old.

Here’s a key that looks like a Swiss Army knife. I am not sure when this was made but it is several hundred years old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After seeing the keys we visited another small museum focused on watch making tools and process. – some interesting stuff.

Travel clock

Tomorrow we head south to Toulouse after a very long bus ride – around 9 hours.

Well I got to get packed and to bed for an early start in the morning.

Bon soir,

Besancon wonders

Wednesday, 24-Apr-2013
Today we were in Besancon a smallish town located in eastern France near the Swiss border. It is uniquely situated almost entirely within a loop of the Daubs river. It’s recorded history goes way back to as far as 58 BC and the days of Julius Caesar. Despite its ancient roots, it is today a very “happening” city of over 100,000 people well known for its microtechnology capability as well as its art. The city is the center of the French watchmaking industry.

This opening we went to the city Time Museum. Tis is a new museum in a very old building. The outside is really old but the inside had been renovated with a contemporary style that was very tasteful and maintained some of the old. They had a foucault clock mounted highs a tower that provided some neat Ives of the city. Watch this movie of a Foucault clock.

Foucault clock

Then, also at the museum we saw what was declared to be the most complicated watch in the world. I won’t attempt to go into that except to,say that it tells you a lot of things – probably many of which you don’t really want to know, or need to know. It is just the wonder of the skill it took for a 17th cent craftsman to make it.

This actually the back of the watch. The black part in the middle is actually the nighttime sky.

This actually the back of the watch. The black part in the middle is actually the nighttime sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went to the cathedral to see one of the most complicated clocks in the world. It has about 37 dials on it and 20 animated pictures on the sides. It also has automatons or moving figures at certain times. My iPhone ran out of space right when I was getting a movie of the figures moving so, sorry, you will miss that, but I did get a movie of lots of wheels and things turning that I think is pretty cool. The clock is about 20 feet tall and in a really small room, so it was very hard to get a good picture.

This picture makes the clock look bent over but that is because I had to use the panorama function and it distorts things.

This picture makes the clock look bent over but that is because I had to use the panorama function and it distorts things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we took a hike up to the citadel for some of the most spectacular views you could ever see! This is the classic walled medieval city.

View north

The view East

The view South

That’s all I have time for tonight.

Versailles!

Tuesday, 23-Apr-2013

This clock is in Marie Antoinette's private residence.

This clock is in Marie Antoinette’s private residence.

Today we left our hotel in Paris and headed for Versailles. Apparently Versailles receives some 4 million visitors per year but we are privileged to be guided through the site by the head curator of Decorative Arts as guests of the museum. That means that we did not have to wait in line to get in, we did not have to pay for admission, and we did not have to pay for a guide. We also got to go places that the general public does not go and because we are interested in clocks, we were accompanied by the man who has been maintaining the clocks of Versailles for the last 20 years. So, we are getting the real inside scoop as well as getting to meet a man of real importance to the site.

 

Here I am up on the attic of Marie Antoinette's residence. You can see that it was not a place that visitors usually go.

Here I am up on the attic of Marie Antoinette’s residence. You can see that it was not a place that visitors usually go.

It really is amazing to realize that places like Versailles have been around for hundreds of years and had such a sharked history. It is fun to try to imagine these events taking place and being there. At the same time, I think most people has a pretty tough life – we have so many more luxuries and even the ability to know what is going on around the world and to travel like we can is a great privilege. Bottom line, I would rather be living now than then.

Here's what the Palace clock looks like from the outside.

Here’s what the Palace clock looks like from the outside.

 

 

 

It it hard to know what to pick out from all that we saw – there were many rooms many wondrous things: the amount of gold in some of the rooms and on the outside of the building is overwhelming and striking but it is probably the out of the way places that I liked the best. Of course two of those places were clocks places; one was in Marie Antoinette’s “cottage.” It was the clock that is on top of the chapel there. We were obviously in a part of the buildings that no visitor goes be use it was dirty and needed painting. The clock was in the attic of the building with rafters that had remnants of a bird’s nest. Unfortunately, because we were a relatively large group, we did not get to spend much individual time with the clock. The other place was similar, but it was the clock tower for the clock on the main palace. Again, not too many visitors go there but it was cleaner and it was in the kings private area of the palace. we went through a courtyard that contained a very nice sundial or set of sundials. Then we climbed up about five stories of half spiral stairs (very neat) and the saw the clock. We had a little more time with this one but not much. The view from up top was wonderful.

Palace Clock

 

Gold is everywhere, even on the roof!

Gold is everywhere, even on the roof!

We also went through many stately rooms and saw some very fancy clocks (seems almost every room had a clock). It was hard to get excited about many of them because there wasn’t the ability to get close and personal with them – there were too many of us and not enough time. I would be easy to want to become an architect after seeing places like this, besides all the decorTon, etc., the feel of these mammoth buildings is indescribable.

Now we are driving through the country on a long ride to a town called Besancon in eastern France where we will visit a museum, a cathedral, a citadel, and an observatory, all with clocks of course.

P.S. I seriously apologize for the quality of all my postings but this one in particular. Unfortunately my knowledge of these things is not great and it is taking an extremely long time to get the pictures loaded and positioned half way decent. I just can’t put even half of the pictures that I want to and I do have to get some sleep.

The Best Day Yet!

Monday, 22-April-2013

Not a very special looking building from the outside - don't judge a book by it's cover!

Not a very special looking building from the outside – don’t judge a book by it’s cover!

WOW! I didn’t think it could get much better it it sure did today. We traveled only about 30 min north of the Otel to the Depot for the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers – the French Museum of Science and Industry. This place is chartered with preserving scientific history and the depot stores all the stuff that they can’t fit in the museum. We saw the museum last Thursday, 18th. This depot is a first rate preservation restoration facility.

 

Behind these closed doors . . .

Behind these closed doors . . .

Well, this place was over the top. The director of the depot gave us a general feel for how they take care of everything and showed us some of the laboratories, work areas and items they have been working on. They have 60,000 items in their database, 20,000 of them are clocks.

He also showed us a few interesting items such as a Hollerith machine which was an early type of calculating machine that was used for counting in the census. The interesting thing about this is that the cards used were the type that eventually led to the use of cards for programming computers – some of us old guys remember using them in college.

 

Here he is telling us about a Hollerith machine right behind him.

Here he is telling us about a Hollerith machine right behind him.

Then, amazingly enough, he showed us the clock area of the storeroom and allowed us to wander and look to our hearts content. So, for two hours we were allowed to walk amongst and look at some of the most amazing stuff in history. This is a prettymigh security facility that not many people ever get to evem go inside, and we were given liberty to walk around without escort.

 

There is lots of art stored like this.

There is lots of art stored like this.

Unfortunately, I can’t post pictures of specific things, because that would be a kin to publishing, but I have included some general pictures to give you a feel for the place.
I took 455 photos- that should tell you how much there was to see. Among the things we saw, other than clocks, were some old cars, old movie cameras, and television tubes – this was kind of funny because they didn’t seem that old but they were certainly obsolete from our society. Some of the stuff that I liked were really old globes, telescopes, and tools.

 

 

image

I am going to have to say that this visit will change my life – perhaps in a small way or perhaps large – but the knowledge that this kind of stuff exists and that people are working to preserve and restore it – that makes me want to help that in as big a way as I can.

That’s all for now although we did see an awesome clock store downtown Paris. Tomorrow we leave Paris and go to Versailles and then on to Besacon.