The Templars and the Parisian Builders 143Vienne; no. 51, Au rendezvous des Creusois; no. 73, Au rendezvous des
enfants de Limoges; no. 12, Au chantier de l'Hotel de Ville; no. 36, Au
rendezvous des Cimentiers; no. 50, Au rendezvous des Compagnons; no.
52, Hotel de la Creuse; no. 74, Au rendezvous des Masons.
Several of these establishments must have served as meeting places
(cayennes), for the Journeymen of Duty. Until the expropriations moti-
vated by the renovation of "block 16"—a small hotel and restaurant—
the Rendezvous des Masons on the rue de Brosse at the very chevet of
Saint Gervais served such a purpose. It sat partially on the former site
of the Old Temple or Small Temple, or the Garrison Hotel. The facade
of this building, whose enseigne remained until 1955, fortunately
escaped the pickaxes of the demolition team, though not, incidentally,
for the memories it evoked but to "shore up" the southern side of Saint
Gervais Church. Expanded and embellished, it has since been incorpo-
rated into a pastiche composition.
Today the Compagnons du Tour de France have a building in close
proximity at 84 rue de I'Hotel de Ville, which they have carefully
restored. The Compagnons du Tour du Devoir thus continue a tradition
and help us to grasp how they are right to claim to be the successors to
the Templars. Freemasons could make this same claim if their history was
not so poorly known. Their story does, however, reveal a different real-
ity, if not too far off—one of certain people religiously repeating legends
that induce a smile among those who don't believe in articles of faith.