David M. Munro, clockmaker

J'aime bien La France

France is a pentagonal shaped country in western Europe. Best known for its food and fashion,

it should be better known for its inspired mechanicians and horlogers

It has been a fashionable tourist destination since at least the time of the Romans,
who built this fine arena in Arles

Americans have been enthralled with France since the beginning.
It has been said that Thomas Jefferson was so taken with the ruins of antiquity,
like this triumphal Roman arch in Besancon, that he couldn't see a cathedral, like the one in the background.

I like Besancon, in a traditional clockmaking area.
It has beautiful scenery, and they have their clocks, like this Janvier, in the Museum of Fine Art.

Of course, my travels have tended to take me to the scenes of French horological interest,
like this undistinguished ski resort town in the Franche-Compte, famous from a thousand clock dials,

or to see something significant, like the Gros Horloge in Rouen.

Of course, there is always time for a little sightseeing,

or to get something to eat.

In the north central part of this pentagon, lies a city that is acknowledged by some to be at the center of the universe
But what is "the true Paris"?

We stand on the porch of the Pantheon and ask, who are the true heroes?

What is the meaning of this abundance of richesse?

What did I do to deserve THIS?

Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers

In the very heart of this summit of civilization, lies an institution which to the cognoscenti is its spiritual heart,

the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.

Parisians pay it no heed, thinking it is a kiddy museum,

but it contains one of the richest troves of our horological heritage to ever have been gathered in one place.

I haven't been in a few years, but in the four horological galleries on the second floor are located

one of the most important cultural repositories in existence.

There is little of the decorative stuff that most people associate with French clocks,

but almost every important technical horological category has an example here.

They have dozens of important mantle regulators, many with constant force escapements,
and complicated calendars and astronomical indications.

There is one technical tour de force after another.
There are numerous examples of visible constant force escapements.

Want to see a weight driven skeleton clock by Lepine? CNAM's the place.

The classic "sunflower" regulator, this one by Lepaute

Like Lepaute? Here are two mantle regulators, from 1831 and 1819.
What's that in the background? A ten-dial world time clock by Janvier!

Here's a closer look.

Like Janvier? Like his technical regulators in matched pairs?

Isn't this great? could Janvier do anything wrong?

Want to see a Breguet dual pendulum regulator? The queen of England has one but she's not showing it off.
This one's at the CNAM

Here's another Breguet. The little arm behind the pendulum is part of a constant force mechanism.

Are French skeletons your thing? Lots of them here, and good ones.

I have friends who think electricity is a suitable method of running clocks. This one's for them.
It is by Garnier. The CNAM has lots of Garniers and lots of early electrics.

But soft! Paris awaits! We can't spend all day here.
The Quai de l'Horologe, where Breguet worked. Downstream, at the Trocadero.

What's that across the river? It's so big! It's so brown!

The Musee d'Orsay, formerly a railroad station. One BIG clock

Paris is full of good clocks. A nice one at the Carnavalet, the city museum.
They also have several decimal time clocks from the period of the revolution
And really fine Janvier at the Design museum.

I end our travelogue with a few more tourist shots:
A curious statue at the parc zoologique. Yes, Dorothy, that's a human foot!

What's the rush?

And to the top of Sacre Coeur hill, with David C.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, how much scenery can you take? It wears you out!

We say A Bientot to the friendly French,

And head for home.

Addendum: March 2021

This is a slightly cleaned up version of one of the earliest webpages on this site.
The trip it references was in 1987, and the page was written a couple of years later
when the first Arcadian Clock website was established.
In the intervening decades the central attraction, the Museum of the CNAM,
was completely reconfigured, and a lot of the exhibits were moved to suburban storage.
It’s still a great place, with great clocks, but on my most recent visit,
it seemed a bit dusty and neglected. I’m glad I first visited when the clocks were
displayed in period rooms, even with that alarming green paint.
At that time, the windows were open to the courtyard,
and the security guard (I spent a couple of full days there) was asleep in the corner.