Typography is the theme tying today's photos together. Enjoy and, if you know someone who appreciates lettering, please send this on!(Picture taken in Salernes, pottery-making village and more!)
pagaille (pah-geye)
: shambles, chaos, havoc, mayhem, disarray; mess, disorder
Audio File: Listen to the next four lines: Download MP3 or Wav file
quelle pagaille! = what a mess!
mettre la pagaille = to mess up
semer la pagaille = to sow discord, wreak havoc upon
Dans notre maison en rénovation, c'est la grande pagaille.
In our home undergoing renovation, it's total chaos!
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
I'm having a hard time deciding on the word of the day. Between bruit and poussière and marteau-piqueur… and craquer and crier and bagarre it is an embarrassment of choices as the French like to say. If only there were as many options for shelter….
Yesterday, only day three of renovation, and we began to snap. It happened when our bedroom (Jean-Marc's and mine) became host to yet another castaway: the muddy, odorous Braise. our 7-year-old golden retriever. (Our luck took a turn when it began to rain, leaving no choice but to bring the dogs inside a house overcramped with workers, plastic sheeting, and buckets of rubble.)
Under normal circumstances, one more boarder in our safehaven room would not have been a worry. But, as it was, our love nest–already bursting with two armoires, a bed, a giant lazy recliner and my corner office–was now home to our daughter, our clothesline, the living room sofa, Jackie's wardrobe (piled high on a fold-out armoire), an extra mattress, our 15-year-old's school affairs–including a chest of books–and a pile of baskets, chairs, and luggage, too. I might have added our dining room table to this list, but that would be an exaggeration, for we are using our pillows as individual table tops, preferring to eat in our bedroom, the only private room of our house.
(It is amusing to think of a letter Mom once wrote to my then-boyfriend, in 1992: "Dear Jean-Marc," she began, "…just one bit of advice: give Kristi a room of her own. She needs her space.")
As I look around at the piles of wet clothing, dirty plates, books, garbage, people and dogs I think of natural disasters and les miserables who endured them. How grateful they would be for this warm room, for this cup of coffee, for the gentle melody playing in the background… it is the sweet snoring of our muddy dog, whose gentle ronflement tempers the pounding of the jackhammer. My eyes settle on the peaceful image of our sleeping beauty. If she can dream amidst the chaos, maybe I can, too?
…Except that the workers have just now tumbled into our private space–on their way past the dining bed, past the wet clothes and dog, past this desk on which I type and over to the balcony to begin drilling on the back wall. Oh, to dream again!
French Vocabulary
le bruit = noise, din
la poussière = dust
le marteau-piqueur = jackhammer, pneumatic drill
craquer = to lose it (to break down)
crier = to shout
la bagarre = fight, brawl
le ronflement = the snoring
Pairing today's post with some snapshots of French typography. This first picture was inspired by Braise, the dog dreamer in our story. The sign reads "Biscuits for Dogs."
Looks like we are not the only ones undergoing "the works". This old post office in Comps sur Artuby is being fixed up. Will it be a private home or will it be what it says it is? You never know in France, where people move into bakeries and even historic little chapels–converting the once public sites into private nests. Do you know of an unusual place into which someone has moved? Comment here.
At the butcher's in Visan. Notice the typography… and not the gruesome hooks above the old wall tiles!
In our old stomping ground of Les Arcs-sur-Argens. This typography hints at a liquor store once upon a time.
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One of the good things about renovations/ repairs is that you realize how wonderful life normally is. Over the years we’ve had to replace a water heater, a refrigerator (that wasn’t too big a deal), and a few weeks ago, a furnace. One doesn’t realize how much stuff one has until it has to be moved. I still can’t believe everything that was in the utility room that I had to take out to make room for the furnace workers. I’m still putting some of it back!
We had tile installed at entries because the carpeting was wearing out – that was just a couple of days or so each time.
But when we finally replaced the carpeting with new flooring – every single thing had to be moved into other rooms: furniture, lamps, piano, etc. etc. – AND all the books on several bookcases. I wound up giving my son a day off school because he’d stayed up for hours to help me move everything. A few years later, we are enjoying the floors, and expect to do so for a long time to come.
Whenever something such as the above ends, and, I’m sure, when your large-scale renovations are done, you will revel in ordinary days where you don’t have to listen to noise, you don’t have to walk through an obstacle course, and you can find everything. It will be great to see how your place looks when the work is finished.
One of the good things about renovations/ repairs is that you realize how wonderful life normally is. Over the years we’ve had to replace a water heater, a refrigerator (that wasn’t too big a deal), and a few weeks ago, a furnace. One doesn’t realize how much stuff one has until it has to be moved. I still can’t believe everything that was in the utility room that I had to take out to make room for the furnace workers. I’m still putting some of it back!
We had tile installed at entries because the carpeting was wearing out – that was just a couple of days or so each time.
But when we finally replaced the carpeting with new flooring – every single thing had to be moved into other rooms: furniture, lamps, piano, etc. etc. – AND all the books on several bookcases. I wound up giving my son a day off school because he’d stayed up for hours to help me move everything. A few years later, we are enjoying the floors, and expect to do so for a long time to come.
Whenever something such as the above ends, and, I’m sure, when your large-scale renovations are done, you will revel in ordinary days where you don’t have to listen to noise, you don’t have to walk through an obstacle course, and you can find everything. It will be great to see how your place looks when the work is finished.
hee, hee, hee . . . washcloths as “beauty aids” . . . I’m “tucking” 🙂 that idea away . . . I’m thinking it is going to come in real handy! 😀 Genius, Jules! ! ! hee hee hee . . .
I don’t envy the trials of renovation, but I will envy the outcome, I’m sure! (But, it does seem to make for some great writing material!)
hee, hee, hee . . . washcloths as “beauty aids” . . . I’m “tucking” 🙂 that idea away . . . I’m thinking it is going to come in real handy! 😀 Genius, Jules! ! ! hee hee hee . . .
I don’t envy the trials of renovation, but I will envy the outcome, I’m sure! (But, it does seem to make for some great writing material!)
Kristin- Love to follow reno projects, and before/after photos. I’ve lived in construction for far too long- once had to hold my laundry in one hand, while climbing a ladder up to a second floor laundry (the central staircase had been removed). Next, I spent a year writing my book because the only room accessible was my bedroom, and that kept me contained. Now, am doing another project and every day that it is silent, I know I have to go make the phone calls and find the workers one more time and cajole them to finish…be happy for the noise-at least they are there working!
Kristin- Love to follow reno projects, and before/after photos. I’ve lived in construction for far too long- once had to hold my laundry in one hand, while climbing a ladder up to a second floor laundry (the central staircase had been removed). Next, I spent a year writing my book because the only room accessible was my bedroom, and that kept me contained. Now, am doing another project and every day that it is silent, I know I have to go make the phone calls and find the workers one more time and cajole them to finish…be happy for the noise-at least they are there working!
I have a renovation horror story that could have served as inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock. It occurred when we were converting a deck at the rear of the house into an office. Here on the Front Range of Colorado, we endure an invasion of miller moths in late spring. The builders had removed the rear door and replaced it with a partition that only went about four feet up the open space. The new office was enclosed, but not well sealed yet. I was on the phone one evening with someone I didn’t even know very well when our cat started exhibiting some extremely agitated behavior. Looking for the source of his excitement, I looked up to the partition and saw quite literally hundreds of moths streaming in. Not knowing what else to do, I screamed a quick goodbye to the person I was talking with, turned off all the lights, and hid out downstairs in the basement until my husband came home. Needless to say, for a couple of weeks we each were swatting at and disposing of several dozen moths every morning. After about three days the cat had had his fill of moths and ignored them, leaving us to do the dirty work. When the ordeal was finally over, everything had to be cleaned, including drapes and windows since the moths leave ugly drippings behind. I certainly hope nothing like that happens during your renovation!
I have a renovation horror story that could have served as inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock. It occurred when we were converting a deck at the rear of the house into an office. Here on the Front Range of Colorado, we endure an invasion of miller moths in late spring. The builders had removed the rear door and replaced it with a partition that only went about four feet up the open space. The new office was enclosed, but not well sealed yet. I was on the phone one evening with someone I didn’t even know very well when our cat started exhibiting some extremely agitated behavior. Looking for the source of his excitement, I looked up to the partition and saw quite literally hundreds of moths streaming in. Not knowing what else to do, I screamed a quick goodbye to the person I was talking with, turned off all the lights, and hid out downstairs in the basement until my husband came home. Needless to say, for a couple of weeks we each were swatting at and disposing of several dozen moths every morning. After about three days the cat had had his fill of moths and ignored them, leaving us to do the dirty work. When the ordeal was finally over, everything had to be cleaned, including drapes and windows since the moths leave ugly drippings behind. I certainly hope nothing like that happens during your renovation!
Oh . . . . would it be possible to camp out for a couple of days? At least a break – go on a day of adventure – to the beach? Maybe overnight?
You make me feel better about the ongoing construction of two houses – one on either side of mine. And my barking dog, who is doing his job of warning me of possible intruders at every nail, cement mixer, etc. It is 4:30 on Saturday and they have been at it since 7:30am.
Try to stay focused on the end product and again, thank you for your clever writing and wonderful pictures. Nancy
Oh . . . . would it be possible to camp out for a couple of days? At least a break – go on a day of adventure – to the beach? Maybe overnight?
You make me feel better about the ongoing construction of two houses – one on either side of mine. And my barking dog, who is doing his job of warning me of possible intruders at every nail, cement mixer, etc. It is 4:30 on Saturday and they have been at it since 7:30am.
Try to stay focused on the end product and again, thank you for your clever writing and wonderful pictures. Nancy
Last week was spring break so I did my spring cleaning. I only do it once a year. I painted and shampooed the carpet but you are right it took a week and I was exhausted. However, I’m back to work this week and it feels good to be in a clean home. I don’t know how I would feel if it would take forever!
Last week was spring break so I did my spring cleaning. I only do it once a year. I painted and shampooed the carpet but you are right it took a week and I was exhausted. However, I’m back to work this week and it feels good to be in a clean home. I don’t know how I would feel if it would take forever!
Good luck, dear Kristi! Please keep in mind the end product will be worth the mayhem and there is no way around but through (ok, an exception to this rule it seems, is to find that chocolate)! Do keep your sense of humor and gratitude as is your style which again you’ve shown us here.
It’s been over two years since I replaced all the windows and doors, plus trim, painting and some needed repairs all in the cold of winter and just before Christmas. Just last summer it was the removal of old linoleum and refinishing of the wood floors in the great room and living room. Ugh, I did not know how I would make it through. Now all the mess and chaos is a far-distant memory and the pleasure of looking through beautiful windows and French doors (that actually work!) and walking on gorgeous floors is a joy each and every day.
If all else fails remember: this too shall pass. I am so excited to see the transformation!
Good luck, dear Kristi! Please keep in mind the end product will be worth the mayhem and there is no way around but through (ok, an exception to this rule it seems, is to find that chocolate)! Do keep your sense of humor and gratitude as is your style which again you’ve shown us here.
It’s been over two years since I replaced all the windows and doors, plus trim, painting and some needed repairs all in the cold of winter and just before Christmas. Just last summer it was the removal of old linoleum and refinishing of the wood floors in the great room and living room. Ugh, I did not know how I would make it through. Now all the mess and chaos is a far-distant memory and the pleasure of looking through beautiful windows and French doors (that actually work!) and walking on gorgeous floors is a joy each and every day.
If all else fails remember: this too shall pass. I am so excited to see the transformation!
For me your typography photos underline how much we lose thanks to computer graphic software. The charm of imperfection has such value.
And I wonder how many of your readers have been through the renovation process. Many, many, to judge from the posts. I rebuilt my house myself. It took years and my family laughed at the camping! But as others have said, it does pass and there’s huge satisfaction in living in a home that you’ve had some part in building.
For me your typography photos underline how much we lose thanks to computer graphic software. The charm of imperfection has such value.
And I wonder how many of your readers have been through the renovation process. Many, many, to judge from the posts. I rebuilt my house myself. It took years and my family laughed at the camping! But as others have said, it does pass and there’s huge satisfaction in living in a home that you’ve had some part in building.
How about renting a tent??
How about renting a tent??
A fire in our appartment forced us to “camp” upstairs in one room while the cleaning-up was being done and the ensuing renovations. It was a horrible time – dust everyhwere and meters of books covered in soot – which is sort of sticky and jolly hard to remove. Soot in photo albums, in underwear drawers….wherever we touched, we got black fingers….And the workers would not co-ordinate their activities, so that it dragged out for months. I sympathize, Kristi, it is a trying time. Admire your abilitiy to write so well under duress!
A fire in our appartment forced us to “camp” upstairs in one room while the cleaning-up was being done and the ensuing renovations. It was a horrible time – dust everyhwere and meters of books covered in soot – which is sort of sticky and jolly hard to remove. Soot in photo albums, in underwear drawers….wherever we touched, we got black fingers….And the workers would not co-ordinate their activities, so that it dragged out for months. I sympathize, Kristi, it is a trying time. Admire your abilitiy to write so well under duress!