Jean-Jacques Limandat, 57, is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) in ornamental design. With a long career in France and Europe, he has also been responsible for training the younger generation – some of his students have themselves become MOFs. He could even have become a chef… and, why not, an MOF in the culinary arts?

How did you enter this profession?

My father was a craftsman plumber, more precisely a plumber-zinc worker, in our region. From a very young age, I was on the roofs with him, and I wanted to work rather than go to school. I followed a traditional path: at the age of 16, in 1985, I joined the Compagnons du Devoir, where I travelled for ten years across France and Europe. First in Troyes, for two years of apprenticeship with Richard, a house-builder; then a year in Montargis in the Auger company, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France craftsman, graduate of the roofing school of Angers – a major figure in our trade and from the older generation; five months in the family business while waiting to begin my one year of military service; then seven months in Périgueux for a great human experience with Samuel Duba, a carpenter companion; one year in Cologne in the Frohn company, highly renowned for traditional lead and slate roofing works; one year in Saint-Renan at Trébaul, where I completed my companion’s masterpiece; one year in Paris at the Société Normande de Couverture-Plomberie; a year in Bern, Switzerland, attending the School of Sheet Metal Work; and finally the last year in Reims, on the renovation site of the House of the Companions of Reims. During my Tour de France, I obtained all the qualifications of our profession: vocational certificate (CAP), worker promotion, professional certificate (brevet professionnel), and finally master craftsman certificate (brevet de maîtrise).

After your Tour de France, what was your career path?

I worked as a full-time trainer for five years at the training center of the Compagnons du Tour de France, in Reims and Lille. I also worked in various companies in my region, before finally spending twenty-five years at Garnier Couverture in Cormontreuil. Having always been close to the world of gastronomy, and with my wife being a professional waitress, we even considered taking over a restaurant as we approached our fifties. For the record, I had the opportunity to meet very great chefs: Charles Laurier, the father of two school friends, Pierre Troisgros, to whom I used to sell pike-perch I caught in the Loire during my teenage years. And Monsieur Paul [Paul Bocuse, ed.], who had invited the carpenter companions to thank them for the work done at his place – and as I’ve always been in the right circles… But in the end, I worked on an exceptional project, the Reims city hall, which lasted five years! And I chose to see that project through to the end. I also considered going back into training to finish my career; in the end, that is the option I chose.

During your travels, you met Baptiste Petit and Camille Jacquot, MOF like yourself (see “Toiture Magazine” issues 38 and 39)…

Yes, indeed, they are young people I trained… or rather “over-trained” [laughs]! During a Tour de France, you can learn every regional specialty (slate, tile…) and improve your skills, even though some only want to travel…

Are you trained in the installation of photovoltaic panels?

No, today companies train themselves and train their employees. The market is saturated, especially in the South. Fifteen years ago, it was an emerging niche, but today there is no real interest anymore. Private individuals are capable of installing them themselves, in the same way as a Velux roof window.

Why did you enter the MOF competition?

I was working at Garnier in Cormontreuil. Christophe Harnois, the manager, my boss, fellow companion and friend with whom I had done my Tour de France, used to say: “I should become a MOF, but alone I don’t feel like embarking on such an adventure… If you do it with me, OK.” But in 2000 he bought the company, and therefore never completed the MOF piece. As for me, I went all the way with this new challenge and obtained the title that same year.

What was the subject? How did the competition take place?

I am a MOF ornamental metalworker. The subject was the creation of a ridge crest gallery, with two finials at each end, one in zinc, the other in copper, their shape left to the candidate’s discretion, and three fleur-de-lis inspired by the ridge of Reims Cathedral, one large and two small… Modestly speaking, I designed a subject within my skill set because, as an employee, I only had my summer holidays to complete the piece. Before my leave, I still managed to spend about one hundred hours on the base, working on it in the evenings and weekends. The piece required four hundred and fifty hours of work and a one hundred and fifty-hour technical study file. I had not finished by the end of August, but Christophe Harnois allowed me to complete the model before returning from holiday.

What did the MOF title bring you?

The title did not really bring me anything special overall. The Society of Meilleurs Ouvriers de France wanted us to be recognized by the Ministry of Education. The title now allows equivalence for obtaining a BTS or DUT. I am known for my commitment to the quality of workmanship that must be delivered. I have become a minor reference in our trade for leadwork and metal craftsmanship in general. Roofers often call me when they need technical advice. I am also heavily involved as a coach for the Grand Est region in the organization of WorldSkills, which are our Olympic Games of trades.

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