Читать книгу Our House is Not in Paris - Susan Cutsforth - Страница 15

I don’t remember how early on it was that we met Jean-Claude; however, as soon as we did, he was a part of the tapestry of our life every single day. He was our new ‘best friend’ and was like a fairy godfather and knight in shining armour all rolled into one. And yet I was so very close to not meeting him. What I do remember is dashing out the front — maybe to shake a paintbrush — and seeing a distinctive figure striding up the road. I was so utterly focused on renovating every possible moment that I didn’t even pause to smile or say, ‘Bonjour.’ No, I dashed back in to keep working. Yet something propelled me to almost immediately go back out the side door to greet him. I am so grateful that I did and I think my first words were, ‘Oh, you speak English!’ I invited him to see our house and all our work, and that turned out to be the start of his daily visits, sometimes up to three or four times a day. He took an avid interest in all that we were doing, and what was magnificent was that he would go away and reflect on many of the things we were doing and come back to share his advice and knowledge. He even went to the extent of looking up on the internet what things needed further checking.

One of the many favours that Jean-Claude did for us was to come up with the perfect name for our barn, La Forge. He told us that there used to be blacksmiths in the area and that it would be just right. We thought we had also come up with perfect name for our house: Pied de la Croix, named after the man we bought it from. So, we were very surprised to discover that, just near our house, there were signs to other houses with the very same name! And indeed, nearby was a little iron cross in the grass with Pied De La Croix engraved upon it. We had even checked whether it was acceptable, according to French custom, to have this name, so we were also disappointed and confused not to have a unique name. Our intention had been to honour the previous owners and name the house after them, as well as to retain its sense of history. As always, with our myriad of questions, it was back to Jean-Claude for an explanation.

We discovered it was, in fact, an extraordinary coincidence, for not only was it the name of the previous owner of our house but it also means ‘the foot of the cross’. Despite other maisons in our village sharing our carefully chosen name, we decided to keep the link to our petite maison’s past. So, now, the house and the barn would each have a name. Jean-Claude told us in an email later that

Regarding la forge, there were several in the village since horses had to be attended to and Mr Dal’s house was a relay for postilions and carriages. The house next to yours was indeed a forge and café in old times since the two went together for people thirsty from travel in sun, heat or cold, dust, and the fire of the forge!

Monsieur Dal was the man we bought our petite maison from. The original owners were de la Croix. You can see their name carved into the golden stone outside the heavy barn doors. Another layer of history and meaning.

Pied de la Croix is the small district where our house is, as opposed to the bourg (city centre) where Jean-Claude and Françoise’s house, Le Vieux Prieuré, is. There is a cross by the ex forge, and the cross sort of dominates a small area, hence the appellation ‘pied de la croix’. It makes it sound like a large town when, in fact, it is a small village of only about 300 people. Le Vieux Prieuré, or the old priory, is most definitely not in a city centre! Our village doesn’t even have a single shop any longer. However, the room that is right on the street of Le Vieux Prieuré was originally a shop. It is the only part of Le Vieux Prieuré you can glimpse, as the rest is hidden behind high stone walls; outside is a bell you can pull to announce your arrival. It is now Françoise’s guest room and the place she chooses to iron, for, hidden behind her lace curtains, she can keep an eye on all the comings and goings in our village.