I have visited a knife centre in France as planned recently, and it was the production base in Thiers...situated in the Massif Central area, the town possesses actually lovely remaining of the Middle Age glorious heritage. The city consists of dominating buildings of traditional old-time architecture, notably the classic facades with timber wood supporting elements and patterns. Walking inside the spiraling narrow streets along the hill slope is a pleasant adventure to discover the missing past moments.
The town is a very important manufacturing base of cutlery in France, and developed since the 15th century, it was the centre of cutlery production site in France centuries before. During the golden era, around 70% of the population worked in the industry and its reputable products were exported to other countries including the Netherlands, Italy and Spain apart from national consumption. The production remains nowadays an important activity in the town and cutlery collections can be easily found in shops and boutiques along the streets. Thiers accounts for over two-third of French fabrication of Laguiole knife (pocket knife with a bee-shaped catch) at present. A considerable quantity of Nontron knife (boxwood handle and pyrograved decoration originated actually from Dordogne) is produced at this place as well.
It's a pity that I missed the visit to the musee de la coutellerie, but visiting the boutiques and showcases of diversified cutlery products was already an eye-opening experience. Well, it is still a checklist of visit for other cutlery centres in France including the source of Laguiole knife at the south, the Savoie region for Opinel knife, Toulouse, Périgueux, Nontron, Langres, Nogent, Châtellerault, Moulins, Cosne, Nevers, St Etienne as well as La Rochelle (nautical knives like Farol knife).
Useful reference sources:
http://www.coutellerie-thiers.com/annuaire/index.php (list of cutlery manufacturers in Thiers)
http://www.worldknives.com
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