2023-09-30 10:00:00
Qhen he talks about his passion for cooking, Thierry Marx could talk for hours. And when he talks about his training with the Companions, it’s almost impossible to stop him. As a child, he grew up in the 20e district of the capital, above a bakery, that of Bernard Ganachaud. Smells, sourdough and bread ovens attract him. “This craftsman gave me a taste for craftsmanship and good things,” he remembers.
The kid at the time didn’t like school. And becomes a “turbulent” teenager. Judo calms him, offers him “an educational framework which [lui] allowed us to rediscover the taste for doing in order to learn.” “I had difficulty learning to do at school, but memory, mastering the common thread, allowed me to understand. » A method that he found again when he joined training within the Compagnons.
READ ALSO The Compagnons, a national treasurePoint : How did you find out about the Companions?
Thierry Marx : My grandfather went through the Companions of Duties box when he was a farrier. For my part, I wanted to be a pastry chef. But not only. I wanted to draw cakes. So my grandfather took me to Paris to see the Compagnons des duties. And very quickly, it worked. I felt like I was in a family with a lot of respect, with an educational framework, and I liked it.
Because the Companions are not just about learning a trade…
It’s a state of mind. There are several values among the Companions. The most important thing is to do to learn. I remember a phrase that was often said to me: “Be curious, you will be a free man. » I pronounce it today. It is our curiosity that will create our freedom. There is also respect for our elders and respect for a job well done. There are some catchy phrases that stick in your head when you’re with the Companions. “Honest salary or rest. From the first, harmony is born; of the second, anarchy. » I was always told, among the Companions, that there was no conflict between beauty and utility. Nor between tradition and innovation. One element is also important among the Companions: criticism. The goal is to progress.
The pace is very fast. How did you experience it?
This rhythm teaches you rigor. It nourishes you so much that you feel yourself growing. It’s as if you were able to measure your growth. To feel like you are becoming a free man. And then, the Companions are a family that allows us to hold on in moments of doubt. Feeling that elders are there to listen to us feels good.
READ ALSO These French people that the world envies usCan we talk about elite workers?
This fraternity, precisely, leads you to be elite workers. I was born in a working-class town, and the worker was not considered. At the Compagnons, when I heard “We are the elite of the working world”, I said to myself: “Finally, I have real pride in being in the craft and in being a worker. » I was no longer the bad student at a college where I didn’t understand how it worked.
It’s not just about technical learning of the trade. There is also all the humility that must be gained. This involves curiosity in order to seek additional knowledge.
Do all these values still carry you today?
This will inspire me until the day I blow out the night light. The Companions were my second family. This brotherhood of men and this working brotherhood, the meaning of which we have lost a little in our current societies, is something essential and which still inspires me. In my activity, as a craftsman and business manager, I always have in mind the social impact of what I do. Within the Compagnons, we are very attached to the economy of quality. This society has been perverted by this theory of low cost, of everything “cheap”, and we have oxidized French society around that.
The Companions of Duties are the opposite. This is the economy of quality. When you look at the pretty framework of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, it is quality work. It will cost a certain price, but the price not being the value of the things, this framework will last through the centuries. The low cost theory is a very bad theory that we don’t learn from the Companions of Duties.
READ ALSO Notre-Dame de Paris: with the carpenters who rebuild the “forest” Do you employ midshipmen or Companions in your restaurants?
Yes of course. It is a source of pride to have this brotherhood of men who arrive and who are absolutely eager to improve their skills through learning the profession. It’s not just about technical learning of the trade. There is also all the humility that must be gained. This happens through curiosity, in order to seek additional knowledge. Especially at a time when we are talking about artificial intelligence. The intelligence of the material, the intelligence of the hand remains an important part of the Companions. That’s why it has stood the test of time, in my opinion.
Are we returning to this model?
Young people are teaching us a lesson, that is, to stop overconsuming this planet and to tell ourselves that things must have a social impact and an environmental impact. I may pay more for this jacket but I will be able to keep it longer. There will no longer be any question of overconsuming. We will perhaps be able to produce, again in France, quality and sustainable products, with a good social and environmental impact.
1696126209
#Companions #train #elite #workers