 Trail Ridge Timber Frames, Inc. France Tour 2007 (the mystery of the famous peg burglaries)
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Louire Valley and the Towns of Tours and Angers |
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Tension
mounts in our little group as many are beginning to
realize that a dangerous criminal is in our midst. All
are beginning to wonder who it is. And so it is under
this cloud of apprehension that we head onto the Louire
Valley. Famous for champagne and sparlkling wine, the region is also known for the stones quarried from the cliffs above the Louire river. These stones are used in many of the local buildings. Here (and above) is a building carved instead, in the stone cliff. |
In the town of Tours we had the special privilege of climbing and exploring high along the church rooftops, bellfries, and attics - it was the highlight of the trip for me. Thanks Bruno for making this happen! |
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Here is an interesting gargoyle. They can look so life like! |
| Wow!
(After I took this picture I dropped my lens cap.) My daughter just looked over my shoulder and said, "That's cool." I responded by asking, "Do you know what this is?" She said, "Yeh, those are the flying butlers." |
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I took this picture at 11:55 am. Of course most of us didn't stick around until noon. We tried to get Michelle to leave but she wouldn't budge. No one saw her ever again. Legend has it she is still lurking in the shadows of the bellfry crying, "The Bells! The Bells!" |
| Wow! Is it just me or does it look like they built those towers out of plumb? It must have been the same builder that did the floor in Vitre. |  |
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Wow again, higher up! You can see how the entire upper roof sheds rain into the flying buttresses (butlers) out the gargoyles and then onto the faithful as they make their way to church - wetter for the journey. Hold it - I think I see my lens cap. |
| Back inside the roof we travel back in time to when our fellow French brothers cut and raised these timbers. The logistics of getting the timbers up so high, assemble them and raise them, was mind boggling to me. |  |
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If you look closely you can see the original layout marks for this dimished haunch. The layout techniques are the same we use at our shop - 700 years later. And... if you look the other way I might see if that peg is loose - just a little souveneir perhaps. ("Ok, ok - just kidding.") |
| Here is a group of oddly clustered gargoyles - wait those are members of my group. When I was over there I noticed that the stone railing was cracked and ready to fall off. "Hey guys I wouldn't lean..." |  |
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Just amazing. I wonder if they clean there gutters every fall? The man that was guiding us around the roof specialized in roof work. He is a roofing compagnon. His job is to keep this roof and others in town in good repair. I told him I saw a roof slate slightly cracked and in need of replacement way up at the top of the ridge. |
| Here is the sanctuary. They were holding mass while we were clunking around up in the attic. |  |
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What a great morning followed by a great lunch. It looks like we're big Coke fans. |
| After lunch we were given a tour of the Compagnon museum where we saw the masterpieces from many differant disciplines on display. |  |
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This is it, the best of the best masterpiece- ever. "What's that - no I didn't know photographs were not permitted in the musuem. I won't do it again. No I'm not a criminal - and you can't prove anything!" Apparently I broke a rule by taking this picture. |
| From
Tours we headed down river (or maybe it was up river) to
the town of Angers. Ah, at last - the moment we've been waiting for. The Tour de France begins! If only I had a bike and I was young again. |
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Here's Will at a local compagnon school. "Has anyone seen Michelle?" |
| I like this entry at the compagnon school. It was probably a student project. I went by our local highschool here in Colorado the other day and noticed the handiwork of the carpenter trade students - 2x4 stud constructed modulars. |  |
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"We think the peg banditis approxitmately this tall..." the local gendarme explained to us. |
| Here is a very old scarf joint. |  |
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This ornamental curved truss design is used on many home gables a lot of modern timber framing in the U.S. is ornamental. We call it "trimber framing". Obviously it was in vogue long ago. |
| This musuem roof was recently completely redone by ?, a premiere timber frame, wood working shop. The shop does much of the big restoration work in Europe and has been in business for 400 years! Our group was given a tour of their facility that employs a few hundred people. For many in our group it was the highlight of the trip. As for me I stayed in my hotel room all that day working on bid for a large job in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We were awarded the job but I later turned it down and to this day regret not having gone on the shop tour. |  |
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