European Pipe Tour Suggestions??

[seamonster]

My family is planning a bit of a trip to Europe this summer.
We will be in Amsterdam for 10 days, then we are going to hop about.
My oldest daughter has her heart set on Paris
and my wife is really wanting to go to Barcelona,
and I really want to see / do something pipe related.
My original thought was to pop down to the Savinelli factory,
but I figured I'd ask.

If I've got 10 or so days, between Amsterdam and Barcelona,
where should I go, what should I see?
Bonus: postcards and/or european doo-dads for anyone with suggestions!

Thanks!
Jeremy.

[LatakiaLover]

If you're well off and intend to buy lot$ of $tuff, many of Europe's artisan/big name carvers are amenable to taking an afternoon off for lunch and a shop visit.

If you're just sightseeing, though, the larger operations are your best bet. Savinelli semi-recently changed how they do a lot of stuff when a younger guy ascended to the #1 spot, and he seems more progressive when it comes to customer relations. Best place to start, I'd think. (Always email or call first, never just show up. Even today's high volume shops are still relatively small businesses.)

[W.Pastuch]

I don't think visiting a typical pipe factory is very interesting to a pipemaker, you can see the videos online, there's not much more to see for an artisan, unless you want to set up your own factory. If you want to see something interesting I would try to contact the Gubbels factory in the Netherlands, they have a new high-tech operation, that should be more interesting to see than rows of old french-style machines copying stummels...
There's a whole lot of artisan pipemakers that would probably be happy to show you aroung their shop. One good suggestion, if you have the possibility to go to Italy, is to visit Mimmo Romeo in Taggia- you can see the process of cutting and preparing briar, that's something you will not see anywhere else than a briar mill, and there's not many of them and none are as hospitable and open as Mimmo.

[jogilli]

it really depends on where you intend on spending time.... I haven't been to Amsterdam in years so I can't help out there.. but in Paris.. la chivette is worth a visit.. http://www.cigare-paris.fr/a-la-civette/ across the street is a great café and under the archway is a really cool estate pipe shop..

if your going to Barcelona look up Robert of Markuz Pipes.. http://markuzpipes.com/pipes/ he's a hoot...

the rest just depends... as mentioned many makers don't mind you stopping by if you call them first

have fun
james

[Massis]

Gubbels (Hilson, Bentley, Porsche design and ofcourse BigBen) in Roermond is about a 2-3 hour drive from Amsterdam. If you contact them they'll most likely give you a private tour of the factory.

Also in Amsterdam there is a place called "Pijpenkabinet" (pipe cabinet) which houses a museum on pipes.

In the south of Belgium near the French border, you have Vincent Manil's. He processes Semois tobacco the old fasioned way and is more than happy to show you his production method. He also has a small museum set up alongside his tiny pipeshop: http://www.tabac-semois.com/


If you're in barcelona, you could always stop by Jaume Hom's briar mill in Girona (about 2h from Barcelona) and go pick out your own blocks of briar to send home (that's what I do...) For sightseeing value visiting Jaume Hom isn't worth it as it's just an old hangar with some tooling without any action most of the time...

If you're in Barcelona in the first three weeks of July, you might run into me We'll be on holiday near Barcelona and will be visiting at least once most likely (even though we've been there dozens of times). Which is also why I go pick up my own supply of briar from Jaume Hom. No transport costs and I can handpick my blocks.

[jogilli]

he's another one I was told about in paris.. wish I knew about it earlier.. I would have visited

http://www.pipe-du-nord.com/p/177/home.php

if I end up in paris again.. i'll definitely be visiting it

have fun
james

[Tyler]

I'd call jogilli and talk him into being my tour guide.

I'd see mimo for sure, and I'd try to hit a few carvers.

[seamonster]

Thanks, fellas!
All good suggestions, and I have a lot of poking around to do. I'll keep you posted when I firm up some plans!
Jeremy.

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