Jean Baptiste's forge

Thursday's blip is a guest blip from my dad Ian, who wields a camera a lot better than I do!

"This has to be about the coolest thing we've seen in France! Jean Baptiste, a forgeron (blacksmith) has been turning out functional works of art in iron (think elaborate French wrought iron balconies railings and gates amongst countless other things) from his atelier (shop) all his life. Presumably, his forebears have been doing this for centuries before him in this very shop (their filings are still here at the bottom of the pile), because not even Walt Disney could dream this shop up. The leather belts loop from one pulley to the next to power all the machines in the shop, recently modernized to run on electricity (judging from the wiring I'm guessing in the late 1800s). Our host Michael has been Jean Baptiste's protege for years, learning the medieval techniques, now almost forgotten, to turn out iron fittings and fireplace accoutrements which he has installed at Honey Bee Island [1000 Islands] in the Rift."