Laguiole to Blesle

Travelled : 151km
Stay:Blesle-aire, free parking,  no services N45.3171 E3.17373
Visited : Laguiole forge, Lavaudieu,  Blesle

In the village of Laguiole there are a number of shops selling the knives of the same name. We found out that not all knives are the same and it's not under the protection of a trademark,  so if you want to buy a genuine french made knife you need to be aware of the ones made in other countries. After a brief visit last night in a couple of shops - one was an on seller and the other an assembler,  we decided to go to see the only manufacturer in Laguiole.  It was free to walk through the factory which manufacturers the knife from the forging of the steel  blade through to the to the final assembling. All the info can be found on forge-de-laguiole.com They employ 100 workers and depending on the style of knife, produce 100-200 knives per day. It was an interesting visit and to avoid all the confusion and the too many choices available in town we bought a set of table knives and forks from here.

The cow horn is a very popular product in the handle.

Cutting the pieces of timber and cow horn into little billets to make the handles.

Machines are used to shape the handles.

Quality control and polishing of the final prioduct.

Our knives being engraved.

The cold and wet weather took our enthusiasm for a walk around town so we high tailed it out of there and continued our journey northwards. We stopped in St.Flour do to some shopping and had lunch before we ventured to the classified village of Lavaudieu. Although a nice enough place with an Abbey to visit, it is obvious that not all villages are of the same 'beauty'...maybe they need to 'star' them, as they do with the flowers. 

No boulangerie in town...not to worry, there is 

an automatic dispenser..only problem the bread also came with flies!

After our walk about we re crossed our path via Brioude and went further West to Blesle. This village was slightly larger and had some charming buildings. 

Admittedly we are not seeing these villages at their peak with the weather being wet and grey along with most shops being closed. We are thankful for the free parking for us to stay overnight.  Our total expenditure for the last 2 months on overnight stays has been €13. Can't complain about that!