Planc’h is a Saint-Briac-sur-Mer workshop where cutting boards and butcher’s blocks are shaped by hand from Breton timber. The visit follows that work at the bench, and the makers explain how they pick a plank and how each species behaves. Their wood comes from a family sawmill at Plouër-sur-Rance. The visit belongs to Les Semaines du Tourisme Économique des Savoir-Faire, the Breton fortnight that opens working businesses to the public.
Tag: traditional-crafts
Marguerite Sérusier’s motifs, taken up in thread
The Musée Sérusier in Châteauneuf-du-Faou houses several pieces made by Marguerite Sérusier. From the same town, the association Broderies Traditionnelles / Broerezhiou Gizh Koz ar Vro invites participants to recreate the artist’s designs in embroidery, and each takes home their own creation. The one skill asked beforehand is knowing how to hold and thread a needle. Twelve places are open, from fifteen years upwards, and reservation is required.
Taolennou, the painted banners of Mikeal Jestin
Mikeal Jestin calls himself a peinteur, in homage to the craftsmen who painted Quimper earthenware. On the walls of his Plouescat showroom hang his Taolennou, the kind of painted banner once carried around the countryside to tell a story. The tales they carry turn religious as often as pagan, which is to say Breton. Painted on solid panels, they are shown where they are made, and the door opens in summer at weekends or on a phone call.
Visite d’usine Fontanille Scop
Mechanical bobbin looms are at the centre of Fontanille Scop’s factory visit in Espaly-Saint-Marcel. The company makes Puy-en-Velay lace and elastic ribbons, continuing a manufacturing practice carried on here for more than a century. Alongside lace production, the tour introduces the dyeing and silicone application processes used in its textile work.
Visite des ateliers de la Cité de la Chaussure
The Cité de la Chaussure tour introduces the history of footwear in Romans and the Made In Romans workshops. A guide explains cutting, stitching, assembly and finishing. The visit connects these production stages with efforts to preserve local skills and renew the town’s shoe industry. Some sessions take place without workers present, so the experience centres on the workshops and their interpretation.
Aimé and Simone Brun’s Provençal Village
Aimé and Simone Brun’s miniature Provençal village brings everyday rural scenes to life. Among its 341 santons, 114 move, including washerwomen, a baker, a potter and an ironworker. A shepherd with sheep and a game of pétanque add to the village setting. Models of Pierrelatte’s Rocher, Tour de l’Horloge and Chapelle des Pénitents connect this detailed craft display with the town’s own historic landmarks.
Forty Years of Bobbin Lace in Brioude
The Hôtel de la Dentelle retraces four decades of bobbin-lace creation in Brioude. Forty reference pieces chart the institution’s artistic development, including Cluny Polychrome lace. Displays include a three-dimensional salmon, golden spider silk and work linked to Mona Cara’s Lyon collaboration. Visitors can also see the atelier, where this inherited craft continues to be practised.
Bourg-d’Oisans Market and Local Makers
The Bourg-d’Oisans market brings cheese, charcuterie, sausages, honey and olive preparations together with clothing and craft stalls. Producers from the Route des Savoir Faire also take part. Their Oisans network includes farmers, breeders, artists and museums, whose work spans agriculture and local crafts. The market is free to enter.
Dieulefit Ceramics Walk
A former pottery and three old firing kilns are the stops on Dieulefit’s guided ceramics walk. The route examines the town’s inherited pottery skills and their renewal through the places where the craft was practised. Visits are arranged on request for groups of up to twenty, with commentary available in French, English or German.
Poterie des Anges Open Studio
Angèle demonstrates wheel throwing during the Poterie des Anges open studio in Andance. Her ceramics are made on the wheel or built from slabs, then decorated by hand with natural oxide colours. Cats, birds, poppies and the tree of life appear among her motifs, drawing on nature and naïve art. Admission to the demonstrations is free.