Incompaniable

We had the day to ourselves today but still based ourselves in Tours as there was still plenty to see.  We wandered in the direction of the botanical gardens and other parks to the south and caught the tram back to the centre.  My O-level French, well past it's use-by date, even managed to buy us something tasty for lunch.

The unexpected highlight of the day for me was the museum of the Compagnonnage movement.  This movement is something of a cross between craft guilds and the a union movement, with tinges of masonic rituals.  The museum artefacts were mainly miniature (but still very large) 'apprentice pieces' that were, essentially, the entrance requirement to join the guild/union/lodge.  The quality of the craftmanship was spectacular - from carpentry (blip), through roofing, metalwork, masonry, leatherwork, etc. - even pastry chef'ery (see extra).