Musee du Compagnonnage

Part apprentice program in the skilled trades, and part fraternal organization like the Freemasons, the French order of the Compagnonnage still exists, but its heyday was in the 19th century.

After serving an apprenticeship in multiple locations that could last five or even 10 years, each aspirant had to produce a masterpiece demonstrating all the skills of his craft, usually in a scale model. These models are collected in the museum, and they look even better in person than anything I could photograph.