Laguiole knives

http://www.forge-de-laguiole.com/en/content/46-visit-the-laguiole-workshop

There are several different Laguiole workshops/factories in Laguiole. You'll see knives displayed in many stores there. I can't tell you which is the highest quality, but here in the U.S. there are cheapies at T.J. Maxx. Not the same thing at all. If you google the name, several different Laguiole brands come up, some with "en" websites. Here's the listing from the Yellow Pages for knives in Laguiole. You'll see there are fifteen listings: http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/annuaire/laguiole-12/coutellerie-detail
I don't remember about closing during the day, but probably, yes. This is a must-visit for a knife collector.

Edit: For some reason we bought our steak and carving knives at Printemps department store in Paris--

These examples bring to mind some wonderful steak frites dinners, where the servers bring out the cutlery on its own little silver salver. Felt so much like royalty that I grew concerned for my head.

We have some great steak knifes we bought in Laguiole. Great fun to visit the village and pop into all the little shops selling the knifes, even if you are not a knife nut !

Before shelling out the bucks, however, take care to make sure you are getting the top quality product. You can tell from both the weight of the knifes and the "story" behind them. They should be coming from a local producer with a certificate of authenticity. That being said, if you are buying them in the village itself, I'd say you got close to a 99% chance they are not Chinese knockoffs.

While you are there, check out the local cheese (called Laguiole, not surprisingly). It is excellent.

• Kevin

The name Laguiole and the little bee on the back of the knife are not copyright protected so pieces of junk can call themselves that. We have very cheap steak knives with the bee on them -- undoubtedly made in China. They work for us just fine but are not the same thing as the beautiful high quality knives made by some firms in Laguiole. The real deal are several hundred Euro for a set of six.

You can easily buy them in Paris but it sounds fun to make the detour to Laguiole -- just be sure you are getting something locally made.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Edwin, that website was exactly what we needed. I had tried to google it but so many dealers popped up that I didn't know what was true and what wasn't. We plan on visiting the factory. We will likely buy from the store there so we are assured of getting the real thing.

Lee Valley tools ( a Canadian co.) carry those knives and I trust them totally that they are authentic. I was hoping to pick up the same knife, but found it way easier to just order them from their website.

It still needs to be clarified that there are several Laguiole companies, most of very good quality, some outstanding, and evidently a schlocky outfit sending the crappy ones to TJ for bargain shopping. There are several workshops one could visit.

We visited this factory/store and we were very impressed. It’s located on the edge of the village, there’s an outlet in the centre as well.

This link will give you info about the factory opening times and store times plus a history of the knife making process - http://www.forge-de-laguiole.com/en/

If you are ever in Montreal there is a shop a few steps from me where you can buy authentic Laguiole knives.