From the top of the Puy Saint-Ambroise, I enjoyed taking long-zoom shots of the houses we could see dotting the Bourbonnais countryside spread out in front of us. The trees and hedgerows were pretty too.
There were houses of every style: maisons bourgeoises (above) and longères (below). The former are usually houses you see in built-up areas, but not exclusively. They have a small footprint but are big houses with upper floors. The latter, "long houses," are generally on one level and spread out over the land. I guess the U.S. equivalent is the ranch-style house.
The other style of house you see everywhere in France is the pavillon (like the one with smoke coming out of the chimney in the photo below). That's what our house is. The Petit Robert dictionary defines pavillon as une petit maison dans un jardin. In other words, it's not a town house (maison de ville or row house) but has some land all around it. It's detached. Pavillons are generally small but can have living space on a single level (plain-pied) or on several.
In a comment yesterday, Diogenes wondered why French cars are not sold in the United States. I posted a link in answer to his comment where you can find many pages discussing that question. Here's another link with some explanations about French cars' invisibility in the U.S. and Canada.
Above is another photo of our 10-year-old Citroën C4, which I bought in 2015. I like it a lot. It's not a high-end model but it is spacious and comfortable. It has a good ride and many nice features, including air-conditioning and cruise control. It only has about 65,000 miles on it, and it has a diesel engine so it will last a long time (I hope). I drive it only about 2,000 miles per year! If you're American, you might never have seen this car model before, and you'd have a hard time finding one in the U.S.
This brought back memories. My parents bought a Simca in the 60s as a second car and I got to use it in college when I was student teaching.
ReplyDeleteYes, 50 or 60 years ago there were Renaults and Simcas in the U.S. I remember them, along with English Fords and Fiats. And of course the VW Beetle. I had an Opel in the U.S. in the 1970s.
DeleteWe had an Opel Kadet station wagon that we bought in Europe in '69. We slept in it all summer and it arrived in Jacksonville FL after it came by ship from Hamburg.
DeleteI like the maisons bourgeoises style in these photos.
ReplyDeleteKen, thanks for the links! Interesting reading and a complicated tale that includes money and politics. Maybe these brands will be back one day in the States one day.
My father had a Simca in the late 50s/early 60s, and loved it, and I remember in the 80s Peugeots were considered a bit of a luxury car in the US market. Around that time I had a friend who had a bright lime green (!) Renault LeCar.
I've always liked the styling of the classic Citroen, and yours is quite nice too.
Another car that disappeared from the US market is the Italian Lancia. They were quite popular at one point.
An American expatriate who found my blog wrote to me years ago to say that he hed imported an American Accura car to France. Two years later, he still hadn't been able to get it registered here. Everything about the vehicle, he said, had to be modified, according to the authorities in his département. He was at the end of his rope. I had no experience of such difficulties, never having shipped a vehicle from the U.S. to France. I never heard from him after that.
DeletePeople I know elsewhere in France brought their little Toyota with them when they moved from California a decade or so back, and I gather there was quite a bit of modification required, even though it met all the strict California regulations.
DeleteI wouldn't be surprised. It has to do with many small things, including headlights and other lights on the vehicle, I think. It doesn't seem to have much to do with emissions or the engine.
DeleteI am very much enjoying your trip :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad because I enjoyed it too.
DeleteI love Citroens and it's really too bad the US won't allow this one in ..
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. won't let in any French cars, not just this model. Neither will Canada.
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