- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 10,040
We just came back from a week's visit to Paris with our son and daughter-in-law and six-year-old granddaughter. Top of my list was exploring French cutlery, primarily an Opinel, since I didnt have one. Imagine my surprise when we left the hotel late afternoon the day we arrived, still groggy from jetlag and nauseous from the airplane food (coughAirCanadagag!), to discover a fantastic knife shop, Courty & Fils, just around the corner! In the window was a wooden plaque with a map of France, mounted with about a dozen traditional French folders from various areas. The window display also included a complete selection of Roselli blades, along with several other Finnish pukkos, probably the Wolverine series from Kellam, a good selection of Benchmades, a handful of CRKs, razors, sword canes, a hand forged drop-point with bronze fittings and a birch bark grip, scissors, a few Japanese blades, enough to make any knife collector drool. Naturally, I went right in and in my broken French, said Opinel number 8 carbone. The proprietor slid open a drawer filled with Opinels of every description and picked out a Number 8. Eight-fifty Euro, he said. Thats about $10 Canadian, a bargain; theyre at least $15 in Calgary if you can find one. The steel is pretty close to 1095. A few swipes on the DMT diafold I had brought along just in case took off the miniscule burr and left a scary sharp edge. The narrow blade did yeomans duty over the week, slicing delicious French cheeses, melt-in-your-mouth fresh baguettes, fruit and the foil off a number of wine bottles. Could have gotten the model with the corkscrew but the hotel had a corkscrew anyway. When we got home I melted in a coating of hard floor wax with a heat gun, working it well down into the wooden handles blade notch and around the locking ring. That should seal it from moisture Opinel wooden handles are near-impossible to open if theyve absorbed enough moisture to swell. The only problem is my wife has now designated the Opinel for the kitchen, but I plan to rescue it for picnics and a possible hiking trip in the Swiss Alps next fall. Courty & Fils (http://www.couteaux-courty.com) is located at 44 rue des Petite Champs, a side street off Avenue Opera, which runs from the Louvre to the famous Opera House, maybe a 10 minute walk from either end. Worth the stop. Just take lots of Euros.
