Mézin’s cork museum floats my boat

Inside le Musée du liège et du bouchon

For those who enjoy quirky little museums, a visit to the Musée du liège et du bouchon in Mézin, in the southern part of the Lot-et-Garonne, is sure to be fun.

I wrote a bit about the village of Mézin a few months ago. It’s a pretty mid-sized town to which a visit is easily combined with Nérac, 13 km to the north. On our recent Sunday afternoon visit, the market is just ending, and we have a coffee on the plaza and take a stroll while we wait for the museum to reopen after lunch.

Musée du liège et du bouchon in Mézin

We are the museum’s only visitors and are given a friendly greeting by the receptionist. She provides a quick orientation and says she will be happy to answer any questions we have at the end of our visit.

Cork production was once the cornerstone of the local economy, dating back to the 17th century. In 1830 there were 50 factories, each with around five workers, in Mézin and nearby towns. With mechanization, a century later these small shops would disappear and be replaced by four large factories. During the 1920s, these factories turn out 4 to 5 million corks each day. Until the early 1960s, the factories got their raw material (écorce de chêne-liège) from Algeria, but after the Algerian War, cork competition from Portugal caused the decline of cork production in the Lot-et-Garonne; the last factory, the SARL Girauc, closed in 2009.

A cork-tree forest display at the Musée du liège et du bouchon in Mézin

Cork bark (écorce de chêne-liège) in the Musée du
liège et du bouchon in Mézin

The simple but creative displays include a simulated cork tree forest and dozens of machines illustrating the automation of the cork-making process. Written explanations in English are available along with a few audio-visual effects.

An early cork-manufacturing machine in the Musée du liège
et du bouchon in Mézin

A cork-sorting machine in the Musée du
liège et du bouchon

A cork-manufacturing machine in the Musée du liège et du
bouchon in Mézin

Eventually we come to a wall lined with cabinets. Behind each door are displays of various products made out of cork. I am acquainted with cork flooring, fishing bobbers and bottle stoppers, of course, but I hadn’t realized how versatile cork is.

Cork display in the Musée du liège et du bouchon in Mézin

The museum also contains an exhibition of Mézin’s most notable native son, Armand Fallières, president of France from 1906 to 1913. On Oct. 1, 1906, the newly elected president visited his hometown. At the time, there were 35 cork factories in Mézin, employing more than half the population. The town welcomed Fallières with much fanfare and erected tall cork arches in his honor.

The small lobby contains some interesting items for sale — all made of cork, of course — and I can’t help but treat myself to a pair of cork earrings.

Musée du liège et du bouchon is open April through October. Summer hours are 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 2-6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is 4 € with reduced admission for children and groups. For more information, call 05.53.65.68.16.