Yesterday I spent another few hours going through sets of Normandy photos that I've taken over the years. I'm concentrating on the period from 2004 and 2005, when I made several trips to the Cotentin, which is a peninsula in western Normandy, north of the famous Mont Saint-Michel. Here are a few photos of houses grand and modest in Lower Normandy.
Meanwhile, life here in Saint-Aignan is just a waiting game. We're waiting for some nice weather to return. Enough with the chilly days — the afternoon high temperatures haven't barely hit 70ºF this week — and rain, rain go away. The vegetable garden and other plants need some warmth and sunshine.
The other waiting game has to do with the new bathroom we want to have built out and plumbed in up in our big loft space. The two artisans we have contracted with to do the work haven't shown up yet, even though they said they'd start working here around June 1. Major sigh. No news from them at all. We've cleared the space by moving furniture and emptying closets, and I'm getting tired of the house feeling like a jumble.
The first house is in Carteret and, if I'm not mistaken, sits on the side of what is called le port des Anéricains.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right. Several other houses (including JL's) are in Carteret too, or Barneville, and some may be in Barfleur. I can't really identify all of them. Did you recognize Sassy (last photo, from 2001)?
DeleteYes, it looked familiar, but thought I was mistaken since it wasn't any close to Barneville-Carteret.
DeleteThat was the same day we went to Medavy, Carrouges, Sées, O - not necessarily in that order. And, for once, I remember that, in Mortrée, we stopped at a restaurant across the street from the church. Am I right? What did you have for lunch?
For once, I don't remember. It must not have been spectacular. And that day was so long and so busy that the memory was already full by noon, I guess.
DeleteTo be honest, I have no recollection whatsoever of the restaurant per se, but, as a lover of old stones, I do remember the neoclassical church (built 1831) which looked like a temple, more than a catholic church.
ReplyDeleteDo I detect a note of disdain for protestants or their churches in your comment? In English protestant churches are not called "temples."
DeleteThere is no disdain in the fact that a building looks more like something than something else.
DeletePuisque Mortrée est en France, il est parfaitement justifié d'appeler temple un lieu de culte protestant qui s'y trouve. The American designation is then irrelevant.
DeleteI guess in English the term "temple" is reserved for non-Christian places of worship. Protestants are Christians, though I've know French people who didn't believe me when I told them that.
DeleteSorry if I misunderstood your comment. Wikipedia gives this for "temple" :
DeleteA temple (from the Latin word templum) is a building reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a more specific term such as church, mosque or synagogue is not generally used in English. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, as well as other ancient religions such as Ancient Egyptian religion.
Tu es pardonné.
DeleteAccording to them, Mormons are also Christians and their churches are called temples in English. In French, it seems the word temple applies to any non-catholic church. It appears the word église is reserved in French for Catholic places of worship. No disrespect there, just semantics.
Here's another interesting quote from the Wikipedia article on "temple" :
DeleteSince the 18th Century, Jews in Western and Central Europe began to apply the name "temple", borrowed from the French where it was used to denote all non-Catholic prayerhouses, to synagogues. The term became strongly associated with Reform institutions, in some of which both congregants and outsiders associated it with the elimination of the prayers for the restoration of the Jerusalem Temple, though this was not the original meaning—traditional synagogues named themselves "temple" over a century before the advent of Reform, and many continued to do so after. In American parlance, "temple" is often synonymous with "synagogue", but especially non-Orthodox ones.
Every house perfect in its own way. I admire your and Walt's patience with the contractor. I would not be able to resist calling them to see what's happened. Not the French way though, I know.
ReplyDeleteWalt sent the Englishman contractor an e-mail this morning to ask him for an update. He said he'd be able to start the work next Wednesday "at the latest." Have you ever read or watched A Year in Provence?
DeleteKen, that is exactly the Mayle book I was thinking of when I read about your "delayed" contractors.
DeleteBonne chance!
Tres belle.
ReplyDeletewww.rsrue.blogspot.com
I love stone houses. There were many limestone ones in KY. Hoping with you that the guys will show up asap. You will probably have major jumble when they finally show up, but it will be worth it.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, E.
DeleteThanks for your Normandy houses slide shows, love them.
ReplyDelete