Fresh From Paris, France!!!

Ken C.

Ken C.

Jack of all trades, master of none.
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My wife just returned from a 6 day trip to Paris and surprised me with a new knife. But this is no ordinary knife. It has a little bit of history behind it. It seems that back on Dec.26,1999, France was hit with a very powerfu storm. This storm knocked down quite a few very old trees in and around du Chateau de Versailles and the gardens. From what she tells me a good number were hundreds of years old. Versailles needed to replace all of the trees and the gardens but lacked the funds for such a grand project. So, what they did was to take the wood from the trees that were destroyed and have a fund raiser buy turning them into handles slabs for a limited number of knives. The tree that my handle came from is called the "IF" tree (pronounced "EEF"). I am unsure of the blade steel but I can tell you that fit and finish are flawless. This a slipjoint folder with bolsters at the rear of the knife and what seems to be a hand rubbed finished. It sports a modified spear point blade with "Versailles" etched on it. The knife was made by GVY VIALIS. I am very happy. :D

Also, can someone translate the certificate for me?
 

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I do not speak English verry whell... Only French.
But I will try: That gives something like that:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
This knife manufactured "by the hand" (handcrafted?) in the rare
wood of the "Chateau de versaille" <Symbol of peace, wisdom
and eternity> is been offer to you today in his original version
The life is always renewed...
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Le "Château de Versaille" is the Marie Antoinette Castle
I saw a good article on this knifemaker and his knifes on a French magazine
(La passion des couteaux, Nunber 68)


Alain M-D
 
Nice knife! You are right, Vialis is using wood from the Versailles forest, from the trees that were broken by the big 1999 storm. Neat ideea!
 
Cool knife, cool story, very cool wife :cool:

Definitely looks like a keeper.

BTW, I would hang onto the knife as well ;)
 
Yeah, that storm was a beast. If you walk in the parks East and West of Paris even nowadays, you can see some slumps that have not been removed, and *tons* of new trees. Trees were falling all over the place. The cost for the cities involved (Paris and Versailles especially) was horrendous, as well as for insurances (I remember walking by the park a few weeks after and seeing all those parked cars that had been crushed by falling trees...) The knives cannot even begin to pay for that, even for the Versailles castle alone - you're talking about 10's of 1,000 trees... BTW, Versailles was Louis the 14th' castle, and it is the single most amazing thing to visit for any American who would only have a couple days in Paris. Yep, better than the Louvre.

"If" is a tree that was often used to make bows. I don't know if it's the same thing as American "Bois d'arc" (which of course is French for "bow wood").

JD
 
Originally posted by Joss
BTW, Versailles was Louis the 14th' castle, and it is the single most amazing thing to visit for any American who would only have a couple days in Paris. Yep, better than the Louvre.
Click to expand...

Top must see sites in Paris and surrounding areas (opinion):

1. The Louvre
2. Versailles (they charge 2 francs for toilet paper, but have a great cafeteria.)
3. San Sulpice
4. Musee l'Orangerie
5. Musee d'Orsay
6. Montmarte
7. The Eiffel Tower (get ready to pay $20 to go to the top)
8. l'Opera
9. Pere Lachaise
10. The Rive Gauche street vendors.
12. l'Arc d'Triomphe
13. Notre Dame
14. Chartres cathedral (a bit of a drive, but if you have time, it's worth the trip.)
15. Jardins Luxembourg
16. Invaldes
17. Any number of flagship boutiques located OFF the Champs Elysee

Top sites you can skip in Paris
1. Euro Disney
2. The Champs Elysee
3. The Sorbonne
4. Montparnasse
5. The Moulin Rouge (can you say "shameless tourist trap"?)

Notice how much shorter the "skip it" list is? Yes, I rag on Parisians mercilessly (with good cause in my opinion), but my God is Paris an amazing place.
 
Mellow Chaos, you forgot to mention "Armes Bastille", "Couteaux Courty" and "Kindal". These are the most visited sites in my case :D
There is also a chateau named "Vaux le Vicomte" which inspired Versailles and it's definitely a "must see". It's not far, like 30-40 kilometers from Paris.
 
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