tool tour, or London to Paris and back carrying 2000 pounds of tools, The

Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The, Jan/Feb 2001 by Kozakiewicz, Chris

We trickled into London's Marlborough Hotel on Thursday, September 28, 2000, with high hopes and light suitcases. Chris Hoodith, our favorite courier from Lord Addison Travel, was on hand to meet airport flights and settle everyone into their rooms with maps and schedules. Our first group event, dinner that night, was already a change of plans from the itinerary. Just to show we could be flexible, we opted to dine in the hotel down the street. With Chris to smooth the way, we had a delightful evening of getting to know one another.

Friday, we met our bus driver Tony and got off to a slightly-later-than-planned start while picking up my husband Bob, who was trapped in rush hour traffic at Marble Arch returning a rental car. Later that day on the way to Coalville, we visited the Canal Museum at Stoke Brueme. Inside the restored corn mill we admired a variety of highly decorated canal boats, toleware and artifacts. Several working displays explaining the engineering and history of the inland waterway system got a real workout from our gang, who had to push every button and flood every model lock. Outside, the museum continued with eighteenth-century buildings, boats and seven full-size working locks.

After stragglers emerged from canal buildings and bookstores, we continued to Coalville, home of the muchanticipated David Stanley Tool Auction. Never reticent about tool bargains, we stashed our bags (a slight challenge, as the hotel Charnwood Arms doesn't believe in porters) and quickly descended on the boot sales filling the car park. After a fine dinner in our rowdy corner of the hotel restaurant, we retired with dreams of plumb bobs dancing in our heads.

On Saturday, those who couldn't bear the edge-of-your-seat excitement of bidding at a prestigious antique tool auction opted to investigate Caulke Abbey in nearby Derby. Although not used as an abbey today, Caulke is nonetheless full of fascinating stories, nooks and stuff! Inveterate collectors that we are, we recognized a master when we saw one. Generations of eccentric boarders had assembled not only the expected walls of great oil paintings and piles of painted, guilded and carved furniture, but docents told stories of drawers full of old bills, cutlery and diamond jewelry. Caulke is also crammed with thousands of stuffed birds from all over the world, displays of mounted puffins or songbirds with suitable habitat backgrounds, and glass cases of frogs, stones and small mammals.

Those of us who could tear ourselves away from the incredible woodwork, catacomb-like storage and work cellars, and a stable full of carriages, wandered uphill to the extensive classic garden connected to the Big House by an underground passage.

Our next stop was the Bass Museum in Barton-Upon-Trent. The Bass Brewery stands as it has for over a century. Mixing vats and malting floors, barrels and shovels, and bottles tell the story of the people who worked there and how a brewery functioned. Of course, we sampled the brew, to more fully appreciate its vital role in English society.

Sunday, October 1, was dedicated to packing (already some bags were straining with tools at the zippers after the auction) and our first Chunnel experience on the luxurious Eurostar. Regaled by first class accommodations and some fine French wine, we were psyched for Paris.

Our Hotel Concorde in Paris offered panoramic views from almost every room as well as from the pricey bar on the top floor, reached by a special elevator. Thus inspired, some of us slipped off to ascend the Arc de Triomphe. We just caught the last elevator up-a bit of luck we really appreciated on the long descent by stair.

Tony rejoined us in Paris, having driven our bus over on the ferry. After a truly interesting and thorough bus tour by an official (and mandatory!) Paris tour guide, Tony gave us the British Tour de France, including such previously overlooked wonders as Joanie-on-her-Pony (a.k.a. St. Joan of Arc). One can see why the French insist on the official version first. Tony, with his patience, humor, and unlimited knowledge of things to see, was a major contributor to the success of the tool tour.

That afternoon we went our own ways. A major attraction was the magnificent Cathedrale Notre Dame on the small island which was Paris's ancient beginning. Later we discovered a treasure-trove for tool and industry junkies: the Musee Nationale des Arts et Traditions Populaires. This winding maze of themed vignettes displayed every aspect of historical French culture: horses and wine, clothing and transportation, religion, dance, war, puppets, everything! All were so clearly organized that even those of us noticeably lacking any French could appreciate the detail and compare the objects whose purpose was obvious without words. After dining, we reassembled at the Seine for Bateaux Parisians, the fabled Paris By Night riverboat tour. A boat ride narrated live in six languages is not to be missed! Even more intriguing was the opportunity to view from underneath all the varied bridges of Paris.