Cool Website, Brief Post

 

Photos of Paris now and a long time ago….

ParisAvant.com

In the words of anyone who has ever tried to keep a blog: "I've been busy." Seems as though things have been moving along at the apartment.  Philippe was over to take some pictures, and it seems like the basic activity is getting the walls roughed in.  Yikes, it's tough to position images in a blog post!  Some people have beautifully designed posts, there must be a better way to do it. 

 

The only minor issue that we have to get resolved involves doors.  The doors in the apartment were all unpainted varnished wood, which I actually kind of liked, but the consensus is that they are too dark and would be better off white.  In Philippe’s recent pictures it looks as though they have been rehung unpainted. And the front door to the apartment had a  a row of big hooks along the top of it, where the previous owners, in the French style, had hung a curtain over it.  I’m not sure why French people do that.  We had asked for the hooks to come down, but it looks like they are still there.  The door on the right is to the toilet, the one that will be forever be separated from the rest of the bathroom….

The other thing Philippe accomplished was finally making contact with T., the woman on the first floor who (as it turns out) cleans the building, and whose husband does the maintenance.  Apparently T. used to be the gardienne, a typical French role kind of like a live-in doorman.  She no longer is, there is no gardienne anymore, although the distinction between a gardienne and a person who lives on the first floor and cleans is a little lost on me.  Anyway Philippe chatted her up, offered her a little holiday tip from us, and generally spread good will.  It will be nice to have her on our side if it works out that way.