As a sometime wood-butcher myself, I assumed that the multifaceted Focal cabinets would require some pretty fancy clamps. Not so, Jean-Paul Guy explained. Modern materials technology has given us a stretchy, incredibly strong, adhesive film that's quick to apply, infinitely versatile, and also cheap.
A Guy.HF craftsman uses a precision machined winding stick to establish that a cabinet is true.
Here's another example of how Guy.HF combines hand processes with modern technology. The finish room is state-of-the-art, combining heat with super-sophisticated polymer finish formulations. "Yet," Jean-Paul Guy told me, "there is always <I>some</I> orange peel. Machines can't detect it and they can't correct what they can't sense, so a human being carefully checks each piece and makes it perfect."
The series of shots that follow has nothing to do with audio. I simply like these photos, so I present them hoping you will, too.
Lyon Cathedral. I'm a sucker for shots like this.
Lyon, I was told, has an extensive network of underground tunnels, which helped its citizens hide Jews during the Occupation. As I walked by this wine shop, I snapped a photo of its stairs to underground Lyon.
This dashing zouave graced an antiques store in Bourbon-Lancy. What did it sell? Why, military antiquities, of course. I was tempted by a Hussar's sabre, but I was pretty sure I couldn't carry it on the airplane home with me.
A shop sign in Bourbon-Lancy. A Hallmark moment if ever there was one.
This carved detail from a house in Bourbon-Lancy sort of snuck up on me. I walked past it, got about five steps down the street and did a classic double take.
This carved detail from a house in Bourbon-Lancy reminded me of the <I>marginals</I> Sergio Aragonés drew for <I>Mad</I>.