Stone-Ideas.com 
They have been on the road again since the weekend of May 20, 2024. We are talking about stonemasons Orianne Pieragnolo and Louis Dutrieux who set out on a bicycle journey from France to China and back in July 2022 in order to explore how the stones are worked elsewhere and what previous generations had done there created with the material. In between they returned to France from the end point of the first stage.
Apparently, there is a need in France to redefine the craft of stonemasonry in a new and modern way and to look to the past – our title refers to Marcel Proust’s famous novel “In Search of Lost Time” (around 1920).
The second stage is taking them since May through Central Asia, namely countries with the mysterious names ending in “tan” such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan. The journey starts is in Georgia.
The two have so far mastered the exhausting and stimulating expedition with a lot of humor. On Facebook they wrote self-deprecatingly about the fact that little had been heard from them lately: “That was just the calm before the storm.” The new departure was under the slogan “On the pedals – Ready – Go”, which the magazine Pierre Actual as a supporter invented.
It was time for departure with great enthusiasm: a meeting of the fan community took place in the city of Meloisey where the project sponsor association Savoirs-Pierres has its headquarters. The program was appropriate for the project: Saturday began with a breakfast together and went on at 11 a.m. with a tasting of the wine brand Éveil des Sens, also a sponsor of the expedition.
A tourist exploration of the area was planned for the afternoon and a shared meal again in the evening. At the same time, stonemasons showed their work in town.
On Sunday, the fan community (on bicycles) escorted the two long-distance cyclists to a campsite – “only about a 30-minute drive away,” as Pierre Actual pointed out, probably knowing those involved. Afterwards the horde stayed put for the night.
The next day the two set off and headed for Georgia as their starting point.
The route also includes a crossing of the Caspian Sea.
In the summer of 2022 they covered a good 4,100 km from France to Bulgaria. A large part of the route led along the Danube.
After detailed preparation and frequent trust in the success of the project, they visited around 100 stonemason’s workshops along the way. It wasn’t just about working techniques elsewhere. They delved particularly deeply into the question of how the exchange of know-how between the countries used to take place and what the identity of the stonemasonry profession actually is.
At the Rocalia 2023 trade fair, they reported with audible fascination about the preservation of tradition in the stonemason associations in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria.
The two publish monthly reports (in French) of their adventures. Subscription is free.
Outline of the project, 2nd part (French)
Video from the Rocalia trade fair (French):
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