Thiers

Thiers has made cutlery since at least the fourteenth century and still produces the large majority of French knives. The reason is the Durolle, which drops steeply through a gorge below the town and drove grinding wheels; grinders worked lying face down on planks over the water for warmth and leverage, often with a dog on their legs, a posture that shortened lives through damp and stone dust. The Vallee des Usines below the old town keeps the workshops, some restored. The medieval upper town is a stack of timber-framed houses on a slope, and a knife museum covers the trade and its designs.

What you actually see

• The Vallee des Usines - the gorge workshops that ran on water power.
• The timber-framed upper town - carved houses stacked on the slope.
• The knife museum - the trade's history, tools and blades.
• The working cutlers - workshops and demonstrations in the town.

When to go

April to October; the valley path and workshop sites open seasonally. Demonstrations run more often in summer. The old town is steep in any weather.

Honest expectations

Many knives sold as Thiers or Laguiole are assembled from imported parts, and the name Laguiole is not protected. The old town has empty and run-down stretches. The valley walk is steep.

Nearby

Clermont-Ferrand lies west; Vichy is northwest.