A continental tour on alternate years organised by either the Scottish Section or the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Chronometric (DGC) has become something of an institution. This year a tour of south-west France in the hinterland of Toulouse, was very competently arranged by Dr M J Dareau, the former chairman of the Section, who is now living in this beautiful, sparsely populated, and relatively unspoilt area.
The party of 32 consisted of AHS Scottish Section members and friends, BHI members, and German, Austrian, and Swiss members of DGC. While the tour had a horological bias there were ample opportunities to enjoy French culture, architecture, and especially the delightful gastronomic experiences of quintessentially French cuisine.
On the first day, Michel Hayard, representing I'Association Francaise Amateur Horologerie Ancienne (AFAHA), conducted a comprehensive tour of old Toulouse followed by a visit to the Paul Dupuy Museum. This houses the collection of clocks, watches, and automata gifted by Edouard Gelis in 1949. Although not large, it contains some very fine examples of German clocks c1580 and 17th and 18th century French watches, including repeating and musical examples, in enamelled cases of the Blois and Geneva schools. Among the clocks famous names such as Berthoud, Robin, and Janvier were much in evidence. A particularly attractive exhibit was a working automaton of 1844 by Robert Houdin entitled 'The Singing Lesson' in which an aristocratic young lady succeeds, after several attempts, in inducing a small bird to sing.
A visit to the workshop of Christian Pasqualini in the village of Bassieres vividly demonstrated the standards of workmanship, equipment, and organisation needed for first class clockmaking, repair, and restoration. Work undertaken extends to design and manufacture of clocks of novel design, a particularly fine example being a regulator with a five-legged gravity escapement and electrically armed remontoire. Alongside was an equally handsome complicated orrery. M Pasqualini's colleague, Christian Damet, who specialised in watches, automata, and musical boxes, had brought along some very choice pieces to tempt the members of the party.
The 13th century medieval Gascon village of Aurignac provided much of interest with its well-preserved 14th and 15th century buildings despite its turbulent history. Additionally, the party was very fortunate in obtaining access to a remarkable collection of clocks that had been gathered over many years by a nonagenarian enthusiast. They ranged from iron-caged turret clocks to long-case Comtoise, some of the latter being over 10ft high, no doubt having been made as status symbols. All were in working order.
In the related field of bells, there was much of interest in the European Museum of the Art of Campanology, accommodated in a restored early 19th century grain store in picturesque I'Isle Jourdain. The display of bells from earliest times was excellent, and included a fascinating presentation of the bell-founder's art. Several verge and foliot turret clocks c1500 incorporating massive bells were particularly impressive, especially the Bastille clock c1610 with chime and strike all fully functional despite its chequered history.
The tour included several excursions of general interest. They were much enjoyed, especially those to the Clement Ader Airbus assembly complex in Toulouse and the Pic du Midi observatory in the Pyrenees.
The Airbus complex is vast, covering over 900 acres, with one of the assembly shops being 1640ft long, 787ft wide, and 151ft high. Here various versions of the Airbus are assembled, tested, and completed, each aircraft being assembled from only four modules which are manufactured on other sites and transported to Toulouse - a logistics exercise of nightmarish proportions. It was possible to view assembly of the A340, but the amount of distinguishable detail was limited as the viewing gallery was nearly 150ft above floor level.
Vastness on a scale several orders of magnitude greater was encountered at the Pic du Midi. The first embodiment of this important astronomical and meteorological observatory was built in 1873, involving well-nigh incredible feats of engineering to reach an altitude of 9500ft. Now accessed by two-stage cable car, the observatory offers a magnificent, if awe-inspiring, panorama of the Pyrenees. In addition, it displays an excellent series of presentations on astronomical topics.
During extensive journeyings in this corner of France, there were many opportunities to visit large and impressive cathedrals dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, typical being St Mary's cathedral in Auch. This contains some very fine stained glass and massive wood carving. Of particular interest was the restored 1694 four-manual organ on which the organist entertained us with a short recital. Many early architectural masterpieces such as the 13th century donjon in Bassoues were in a surprisingly good state of preservation. The local pale cream-coloured limestone appears very durable.
On perhaps a rather lower cultural plane, travelling through the heart of Gascony induced a desire to see the methods of production of Armagnac brandy and to follow on with a tasting. Despite its claimed therapeutic properties it did not generate universal admiration.
The entire tour was greatly enjoyed by the participants. Its success was due entirely to the excellent planning and organisation by Dr Dareau and his hardworking wife Marace. Both were enthusiastically thanked for their outstanding contribution to the success of the tour.