Comings and goings

When we arrived here for the very first time, in 2005, Cormatin still hosted the Musée du Vélo, a very interesting museum displaying a large collection of historical bicycles and bicycle accessories, such as pre-war bicycle tax shields which had to be displayed on the head tube of the bike. The museum was conveniently located next to the Voie Verte, in between Cormatin and Chazelle. In 2007 the museum closed its doors, and became Musée du Poilu in 2008. This museum displayed a collection of handicraft made by the soldiers in the trenches (Poilus) during the first world war. This museum ceased to exist as well; the doors closed the end of last year. The collection of the bicycle museum however has found a new home in Tournus. In 2010 the new Musée du Vélo re-opened, a couple of weeks after the owner of the collection died.
And now the building is again occupied, this time by “Aux forges d’antan”, which means something like “In the forges of yore”. The owner is Franck Souville, an artisanal smith who makes exclusive knives out of Damascus steel. Whether the ex-Musée du Poilu will become an annexe of the original forge in the Doubs, or whether it will become a sales outlet for the exclusive knives of Souville is at this moment in time (mid 2012) not entirely clear.

The “Mon atelier” page of his site shows a video, and there my eye was caught by a price tag of € 200 on a knife. I do not think one would be able to buy a cheap potato peeler here...


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