Uncategorized

corvée

Corvee
The drawing reads: "In the war of 1870 he drove a team instead of a camion. French 'corvée' laborers. Too old to serve in the active army and so assigned to the more unromantic uninteresting but vital work of loading camions, tending horses, or building and repairing roads back of the lines. It has been said that the first battle of Verdun was won by the camion service. This is the kind of man who made that victory possible." (Image Processed by Distributed Proofreaders as part of the e-book creation process for Project Gutenberg title "I was there". Author: Baldridge, Cryus Leroy (1889-1977))

corvée (kor vay) noun, feminine

    : chore, duty, drudgery, unpleasant task

synonyms: une tâche (task), un pensum (punishment)

 Audio File & Example Sentence:  Download WAV or MP3

Sortir la poubelle, c'est une corvée usuelle.
To take out the garbage is an ordinary chore.
. 

A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse

"Lads & Laundry"

Enjoy the following silent column! Sometimes it is good to take a break from words… and dabble, instead, in domestic work!

DSC_0008

DSC_0009

DSC_0010

DSC_0011

DSC_0015

DSC_0016

DSC_0017

DSC_0021

 Thank you, Alexis (right) and Daniel, for allowing me to capture this slice of harvest life. 

 

DSC_0164

Discover more from French Word-A-Day

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

38 thoughts on “corvée”

  2. Yes cute is the word (‘mignon’?).
    Was the washing done before or after visiting le fût à bière? 🙂

    Reply

  6. Laundry hanging on a real clothes line, outside!!!! It’s what I do here at home and everyone thinks I’m weird. “You don’t use a dryer?” they ask. Never! Not even when I have to walk through the snow to the frozen line!

    Reply

  7. Fun time! Thank you Kristin!
    Yes, your photos did all the talking and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
    Photo 7 -> Wooow! What a magnificent set up for “les cordes à linge”! (washing lines / clothes line)…
    I can’t see any “pince à linge”, (une pince à linge = clothes peg) so, I guess le mistral had a day off! Anyway, with such a beautiful sunshine, a few weak (?) doses of Mistral, plus the contagious “bonne humeur” (good mood) of the lads, who is talking about “corvée”?
    As far as Daniel and Alexis are concerned, “faire la lessive” (to do the washing) and “faire sécher le linge” (drying clothes) mean, without any doubt, —> = having a jolly good time, followed by a drink and a rest! Great!
    Hi guys, End of the ‘interlude’ coming very soon.
    Grapes waiting to be picked… and do keep that lovely “bonne humeur” (good mood)! Your smile is contagious!

    Reply

  8. Hey, cool…somebody else who needs a beer after hanging out the laundry. And I always thought I was the only one!

    Reply

  9. Hee Hee.
    Yes – all of that hard laundry labor always makes me want a cold brewski too.

    Reply

  10. Hello again,
    Having a second look at the photos:
    Interesting to compare the black and white and all the grades of grey on the washing line, against a vast green background – with the pastel colours on the very last photo where the washing is drying in between the first floor windows, pressed against a wall.
    I couldn’t help thinking the owners of the house bought their towels to match the apricot colour of their outside walls!!!
    I love the drawing of that man and particularly the few simple lines of his eyes…
    So, he (who was he? always curious, but never mind who he was) drove his team during the 1870 war, but now, being older (first world war time?) is reduced to so-called “corvées” … not knowing they are, in fact, of very valuable consequences!
    Interesting remarks which made me think that, a change of activities (due to age and state of health) may still be of great value, (after all…) if not for oneself, but for other people, whether one is aware of their consequences or not.

    Reply

  11. If you can take your eyes off the handsome lads and their underpants for a sec, I’d like to add that the mandatory corvee demanded of French peasants (mostly to build roads) is considered a major source of discontent leading up to 1789.

    Reply

  14. Delightful! It’s nice to see that the harvesters aren’t too tired to have some fun.

    Reply

  18. Meredith,
    Great minds think alike….I was thinking the EXACT same thing as you. My laundry person doesn’t look anything like those two. Shoot, maybe that’s a GOOD thing? Kristi, I miss you! xo R

    Reply

  19. I love clothes lines! Rusty gave me such crap about putting one in, then guess who brought a load of laundry down to be the first to use it?! It is never a chore if everyone is laughing.
    OXOX,
    Missy

    Reply

  23. I keep thinking that it never rains where you live! What great weather for drying the wash. But I suppose you don’t take too many photos of rainy days?
    It’s good for everyone to do laundry and other chores, so they don’t grow up expecting to be waited on. My son now does his own. But he has it easy, with a dryer. I grew up hanging clothes outside, but where we live now, we aren’t allowed to hang laundry outdoors – I guess it’s considered messy. I remember when I used to take laundry inside, in winter, thinking it was dry – it was just frozen! We spread it around as best we could, for it to finish drying. If I could hang more than swimsuits and towels outside, I probably would, much of the year, to save on electricity, but I admit, I like having a dryer in the winter. Does the Espinasse family have a dryer, or what do you do in winter or extended rainy weather?

    Reply

  24. I like that “fancy dance” with the shorts! Good sports, those lads! (And good experience for later life..) Hugs, Cerelle

    Reply

  25. Love Newforest’s posts! As always! I learn so much from her and from you, dear Kristin. See, learning CAN be fun – that’s what I always told my students. And we’re all students of life, n’est-ce pas? Would one say “etudiants de la vie” en francais? Or is there a more delightful way of saying it, as there usually is in the most wonderful language in the world! cheers to you and your family – and extended family – as the vendange continues. How much longer? BTW, I’m ready for snow!

    Reply

  27. moi aussi je me demande comment ce linge va resister au mistral! and : is that really prehistoric skull a droite sur la pile de tuile?
    Thank you, Kristin for a smile a day. Odile.

    Reply

  29. Is that supposed to be “Distributed Proofreaders” or as it was here in your site: “Distribued Proofreaders”. Is this mispelling deliberate to catch us on our proofreading abilities or is it “just” an typographical error?

    Reply

  30. Odile, the skull in question sounded very intriguing and I had to go and have a look at it. Aaahah! With that”belle grosse pierre blanche” on the top of the pile of tiles, I assume the wooden post won’t collapse!
    Audrey, you too noticed the absence of “pinces à linge” – my (assumed) conclusion was that “le mistral” took a day off so, no need for them!
    Oh! I like the substitutes for “paniers à linge” (laundry baskets) ->
    –> “une boîte en carton” (= a cardboard box) for “le linge sec”
    –> “un truc plat, en plastique” -> a flat plastic ‘thing’ … don’t know what it is… sort flat rack (?)… for “le linge mouillé”
    – sec = dry
    – mouillé = wet
    – un truc = a ‘thing’/ ‘whatsit’ (you don’t know or have forgotten the name of)
    Boys, you are so well organised! Bravo!

    Reply

  31. The photos this morning made me laugh!…and reminded me of my own sons. Please tell them that, as a mom, I am very impressed with their lessive skills. Wish it were always this much fun!

    Reply

  32. There is great pleasure in the simple act of hanging washing on the line – I alwsys made Rothko-like pictures of them, hanging one colour pleasingly against another – I often did it in a midnight garden waiting for the next mornings sunshine and enjoyed the silent starry skies whilst singing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Lady Midnight’; and then there is the pleasure of taking them off the line again – dry and with the smell of sunshine and fresh air locked inside to enjoy anew when putting them on – you don’t get that from a ‘dryer’.
    I’m currently reading “How to Be Free” by Tom Hodgkinson who advocates living a simpler life and not relying on machines too much (tools are ok!). I also think there is something in watching a line of clothes flapping on a straight washing line that gives more pleasure than watching them dry on a rotary line – so called progress in the name of efficiency isn’t always so.
    We need to connect more with the land and using our hands and although it may seem like more/hard work and more time used, there are benefits to our spirit from these basic connections with nature and other human beings – not divorced from life and enslaved to machines.
    Think about the wine that will be savoured by so many as the result of your hard work

    Reply

  36. hmmmm… thanks for the fun of watching the guys hang the laundry. I can smell the fresh air. The tall guy seems better at giving directions than doing the hands on, so he’s missing the fun. It is my favorite thing to do on a sunny warm day, and I have been known to re-arrange the clothes when a color combination beckons.

    Reply

  37. EklTai MCM 店舗 大阪 ifkarv http://mcmbagsjpcheap.com/ PlzBha シャネル バッグ トート tdzqds http://cheapforjpchanel.com/ HuuKpy MCM 韓国 店舗 hkwblj http://cheapmcmsalejp.com/ DjcXfn プラダ 財布 キルティング tgmsbq http://pradaonlinesalejp.com/ YzeKzn ミネトンカ キッズ aufone http://minnetonkajapan.com/ CnuFii シャネル バッグ 新作 2012 llylfa http://chanelbagonlineshopjp.com/ TohXwn シャネル 財布 新作 2012 ndzisr http://chaneloutletonlinejp.com/ AlqMxx クロムハーツ ピアス fyvsqm http://chromeheartsstorejapan.com/

    Reply

  38. RxcWmo シャネル 財布 カメリア dksung http://cheapforjpchanel.com/ UvgWes MCM リュック 芸能人 btxlmg http://cheapmcmsalejp.com/ FbpNfd ゴローズ通販 wfpkzu http://gorosjpoutletsale.com/ EryYxa コールハーン 財布 ecuscy http://colehaanoutletjp.com/ IhpXlx プラダ 財布 新作 bhlilr http://jppradabagonline.com/ BujZjo monster イヤホン wzokzl http://cheapmonsterbeatjp.com/ NlmDmh ルブタン 靴 シャンパンゴールド tsbefr http://louboutinshoesforsalejp.com/ ThxZkc MCM 財布 通販 lmhkdw http://mcmbagsjpcheap.com/

    Reply

Leave a Reply