Compagnons du Tour de France

The Compagnons du Tour de France is a French organization of craftsmen and artisans dating from the Middle Ages. Their traditional, technical education includes taking a tour, the Tour de France, around France and doing apprenticeships with masters. For a young man or young woman today, the compagnonnage is a traditional way to learn a trade while developing character by experiencing community life and traveling. The community lives in a Compagnon house called Cayenne managed by a mère, a woman acting as a second mother, of which there are more than 80 in France. The houses vary in size from a small house for five people to a larger one with more than 100 people living together.