I have wanted to visit the Gobelins factory and museum for a long time. Inevitably the carpets and in particular the tapestries back in the day were made by Gobelins. They still are.
The tour was really three parts. First was a temporary exhibit of the "barracks" of Napoleon. Our intrepid emperor required 70 people to maintain his traveling household as he went off to battle. Someone had to disassemble the lamps and store them in their custom cases, and to count the gold-encrusted dessert plates.
The second part of the visit was a walk through the restoration workshops, where all manner metal-, glass-, wood, and fabric-goods are repaired. Gobelins is now part of the government, and responsible for every piece of furniture and furnishings owned by the government, down to the provincial level.
Only one small detail of one minor drapery.
The final part of the tour was a guided visit in other buildings nearby to the carpet factories, where we saw the artists working completely by hand on new commissions for various government buildings. No photos were allowed. Interestingly, the carpets were all modern, by contemporary designers. Most will take several years to complete.
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