We took a bus about 100 km from Paris to Beauvais to see the National Tapestry Workshop there. It was an incredible day. There are three workshops supported by the state (Manufactures Nationales): Beauvais, Gobelin, and Savonnerie.
Beauvais is divided between the town of Beauvais and another site in Paris. This is because Beauvais was heavily bombed in WWII. When a new building was built decades later, weavers were able to volunteer to relocate to Beauvais so about half of them are at the workshop there and the other half are at the Gobelin in Paris.
Beauvais weavers weave on basse-lisse (low-warp) looms. Gobelin weavers weave on high-warp looms. The third workshop, the Savonnerie, makes pile rugs and we were not able to see them. They are also located in Paris. I will have more to say about the tapestry workshops at a later date, but the video blog below is a start! You can see all the episodes on my YouTube channel HERE. Make sure to click subscribe so you see my channel in your subscription list and get notifications if you choose.