![\"Pipes](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pipe-de-gaulle-3-web.jpg\")
You, dear reader, will be unusual to say the least if you own one; your father probably didn\u2019t have one, either; more likely your grandfather might have had one \u2026 or two or three. Take a look in your old family photo album and chances are there will be someone smoking a pipe and looking relaxed, studious and intellectual. For a hundred years, through to the nineteen-fifties, pipes figured among the accoutrements of the well-dressed man, at home and at work.<\/p>\n
A pipe-smoker these days is as rare as a hand-knitted tank-top or a trilby hat; but if you can carry it off, it\u2019s retro-stylish, maybe even a kind of cool. There is something aesthetically pleasing about the process of preparing and lighting up a pipe. The cultural significance and scarcity value of a pipe now merits a place in a museum; and in the town of Saint-Claude, France, there\u2019s virtually an entire museum devoted to the pipe.<\/p>\n
![\"Pipes](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pipe-colours-web.jpg\")
A site of pilgrimage<\/h4>\nThe idea of using a pipe to smoke leaves of the tobacco plant came to Europe via the early explorers of America, as smoking was a common practice among Native Americans. The habit caught on; by the eighteenth century pipes of all kinds were being produced in many parts of Europe. Meanwhile, in the Jura mountains of Eastern France, thanks to a plentiful supply of timber and water-power, and Saint-Claude being a holy site of pilgrimage, a particular woodworking skill had developed around the large-scale manufacture of souvenirs for pilgrims \u2013 prayer beads, rosaries and other religious items \u2013 as well as games and toys, in boxwood.<\/p>\n
When the fire-resistant Briar wood from the south of France became available to these craftsmen in the mid-1800s, they turned their attention to the production of pipes, and a new industry was born in the region. The Mus\u00e9e de la Pipe & du Diamant (The Pipe and Diamond Museum \u2013 more on the precious stones in another article) is filled with a huge array of pipes made in the town, as well as from across the ages and around the world.<\/p>\n
A local speciality is to carve figureheads and caricatures into the bowl of the pipe. We see dozens of examples of presidents, politicians and cartoon favourites on display, from Charles de Gaulle to Obelix. The ingenious use of a unique pantograph copying machine dating from 1863, and built under a cloak of great secrecy, permitted one pipe-maker to \u2018mass-produce\u2019 fourteen carved pipe-bowls using a single wax template. There are also on display pipes of beautiful colours, elegant shapes, large and small. Look out for \u2018the world\u2019s smallest pipe\u2019 which is actually smokeable!<\/p>\n
![\"Pipes](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pipe-confrerie-web.jpg\")
There are now just half a dozen pipe makers (ma\u00eetres-Pipiers) in the area, but such is the enthusiasm among them and their pipe-smoking customers that there is a Brotherhood of Master Pipemakers based at the Museum. Videos take you through the ceremony in which a new member of the Confr\u00e9rie, passionate about the pipe, is enrolled; although this is a \u2018brotherhood\u2019, one notes that there are women members, too.<\/p>\n
Members are invited to take a pipeful of tobacco from the ornamental head of the pipestand in the centre of the room, but the Confr\u00e9rie exists really to encourage the appreciation of the art and craftsmanship of the pipe-maker. An armoire at the back of the room holds drawer after drawer of patterns and one-off examples of the pipes produced by the honoured brethren of the town of Saint-Claude.<\/p>\n
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Mus\u00e9e de la Pipe & du Diamant<\/p>\n
1 place Jacques Faizant<\/p>\n
39200 Saint-Claude<\/p>\n
France<\/p>\n
Visit the Pipe and Diamond Museum here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A ten-minute walk from the Museum is the ancient workshop of one of those few remaining Master Pipe-makers. Pipes Genod-Viou is run by the youthful but highly talented S\u00e9bastien Beaud, himself a member of the Confr\u00e9rie des ma\u00eetres-Pipiers. On the counter are row upon row of lovely, gleaming, tactile pipes in many styles and colours; in the back room stand the lathes, saws and polishing machines with which he deftly creates his trophies from unassuming blocks of briar. Watch as the bowl and then the stem are revealed, as if just hidden inside the block, waiting for him to strip away the rough outer shell.<\/p>\n If you have a yen to try a hand-made French briar pipe, or there\u2019s someone at home who might be persuaded to give up cigarettes for the (slightly) more benign pipe, here\u2019s a one-off, never-to-be-repeated, opportunity to indulge yourself!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n S\u00e9bastien Beaud<\/p>\n Pipes Genod-Viou<\/p>\n 13 Faubourg Marcel<\/p>\n 39200 Saint-Claude<\/p>\n France<\/p>\n Visit Pipes Genod-Viou here<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information:<\/strong><\/em> Visit Burgundy Franche Comt\u00e9 Tourism here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Getting there:<\/em><\/strong>![\"Pipemaker](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/pipe-maker-products-web.jpg\")
Pipes gleaming and tactile<\/h4>\n
\nThings to do and places to stay on the Jura Mountains<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\nGeneva Airport<\/a><\/strong> from airports across the UK and Europe<\/p>\n