[Marxism] The Part Played By Labor in the Transition From Pedestrian to Bicyclist

[Andrew Pollack]

Mr. Robb, the author of biographies of Zola, Hugo and Balzac, writes in  his introduction that he traveled 14,000 miles by bicycle all over  France in the course of researching his book. Quite naturally, he  devotes several pages to the Tour de France. There are two, one well  known, the other not. The original Tour de France was an itinerary  followed by apprentices for centuries, a four- or five-year trek,  organized by the trade guilds, that sent young masons and bakers and  carpenters on a 1,400-mile journey to more than a hundred towns, where  they served under local artisans, learning local techniques and working  with local materials.
  
  Full:
  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/books/02book.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
  THE DISCOVERY OF FRANCE  
      A Historical Geography From the Revolution to the First World War  
      By Graham Robb  
  
  
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