JP Post for Friday, 06.17.2011
A Brief note on French Plumbing Design and Responses to your Comments
On French Plumbing:
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| Circa 1100 Left (not the roof drain) Today - 2011 Right |
Always-elegant design, great progress in effective sanitation over 1100 years. The one on the left drained into an open gutter that flowed, at the head level of pedestrians, into a narrow street. Medieval commentators noted the incredible stench of cities. The one on the right, all stainless steel, automatically flushes with an electric eye switch.
Your Comments:
We are getting your comments and emails. It is awkward sending out with our regular email so I will do it here. Not in any particular order. If I have missed someone please let me know.
Jane S. - Thanks for letting us know you are getting this. Thinking of you.
Dylan Mc - Best to that character, your dad, and thanks for patching up the Marsh House.
Vickie C. – Hope your horse arrives in good shape. You and your sisters would feel right at home here, horses, cows, fields of alfalfa and hay.
Eva S. – There are numbers of organic ferme here. “Certifce Bio.” Annya, a Dutch lady makes the most incredible cheeses with her Dutch cows. All “bio”. By the way - Revolution just had a calf.
Sarah S. – Fabulous for pleine air painting here and the people get a delight seeing us set up by the road. Lots of open country roads for Andy and his new bike. Will check out links when we can connect.
Heidi O. – The French in this area do seem very generous about our language fumblings. They sound musical to me and speak with great clarity so that I can often get the general gist of the conversation. All that is required is to make an effort to get them to rattle on. My bonjour and sa va go a long way. Everyone here has been kind, open and hospitable. More on OVERCOMMING MY FEAR OF FRENCH later. I think it deserves a blog to itself. This area is known as the Tarn district.
Non & Fred H. – Glad to know you are getting this. Anything you are curious about? Isn’t Seaver originally French. Sievre or some such. Hugenot refugees? Ask Tucker.
Peter M. – Nice to know you and Dora and the kids will be in Toulon. Any way you get to see France has to be great. Helas, that will a clean up for the next Artistes day for us. See you at BJ. Thinking of painting the shore birds, you know, all those jeaune fills in French bikinis that block the view of the ocean on a summer day.
Margot & Dave M. – No the Chateau is not for rent. I will ask our patron if he will entertain requests for a retreat time from other artist’s. And we should see what rental options there are here. You would make great companions for another adventure. Do you do plein air painting?
Jack & D. M. – That photo brought up indescribable feelings. Jinnet on my arm as we walk to her wedding ceremony. May I commission a print?
Roger K. – Thanks for the critiques. Look forward to discussing painting when we get back.
Vickie and Rock – No we do not sleep under the stars though this adventure reminds me of the intensity of the Grand Canyon cruise. The quiet here is the same! A screech of a hawk overhead, a cuckoo in the woods, crickets, and the light breeze. Often think of you and Rock and the rest of the crew and what great companions you would be. And they do river trips nearby out of St. Antonin.
Larry L. – Thanks for the posts on Bozie. The red puppy from the vineyard Bourguet keeps me company here.
J & MA – Quite simply wish you were here. A future scheme?
Bonnie & Joe M. – thanks for supporting the possibility of lots of great French rouge.
Jim & Donna S. – thanks for critiques. Look forward to seeing how your hay bales turned out. Think of you guys while out under sky with brush in hand.
Janet & Bob F. – Anything more you are curious about? We can receive email. Sending is klunky. Some setting I have not yet figured out.
Edgar & Mary Day – Keep in touch. Give us a call even if we cannot work out getting together. JP cell + 1 508 951 7911.
Peter & Sasha – A granddaughter’s birthday is major. Glad we could comply.
Joney S. – You are going to have a comparable adventure – taking a group of kids to Prague.
Curtis R. – I always thought of you as being everything sophisticated and knowledgeable about Europe - and you speak the language! Love hearing about your art career.
Harvey & Debbie – thanks for the encouragement. Let’s keep Betsy writing.
Pam P. & all Western Powels – Jake would go nuts – Vineyards and little wineries everywhere. Tasting – I cannot abide dumping the leftovers down the sink. I swallow it all with a big grin. Best wine I have ever. Doing what we can to support the local economy. See you in September. HI to Babe and all cousins. Love to Aunt A.
Zack M. – Acrylics in luggage – no problem with TSA – include MSDS sheet as precaution. As I am a slow deliberate painter I find they just dry too fast. I am using them for the under drawing, thinned like ink in a small jar.
Lar D. - Great to hear about your trip. Quiet is a rare and precious treasure. It is quiet here. See my comment to Vickie & Rock.
Wendy – Thanks for reminder Guilt. Guilt. Must look up that print.
Burneses - Thinking of you tomorrow - Being a Father of the Bride is one of life’s most intense experiences. Glad you have Elsa there.
Carol B. – It’s Peace Corps with a delightful form of culture shock. Keep the jokes coming. We read them all.
Kathy & Jeff L. – This has to be a play. Cannot believe it is real.
Ann & Bob W. – keep in touch & will add you. Bob must know about the history of this region. There is heaps. And palpable.
John & Wen B. – I completely acknowledge the validity of your comment re women’s bottoms and men being asses and have no commitment to change. Speaking of which, I observed a wonderful one amongst the painting of the damned in the Albi Cathedral. Why amongst the deadly sin of envy is cause for delightful speculation. Oh, those wicked little monks. I propose a title for my doctoral thesis – Great Lady’s Bottoms in 30,000 Years of Art History, a definitive Anthology.
Brooke R. – Best to all at the Westport Art Group. I would love for Meredith WC to see this but she does not do computers.
Fondly thinking of you all.
I thought I'd let you know that we have been enjoying the posts immensely, but have only caught up yesterday after a power outage last week left us with phone service that was barely adequate for voice, and totally inadequate for internet.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the view of the plumbing. Back in the late sixties, my aunt Gretchen (my mom's sister), then a grad student, took some time off to travel all around Europe, starting in the Iron Curtain countries. She was fascinated (and not a little horrified) to discover the wax paper like nature of some of the TP there. She began to collect samples, and when she returned from the trip, she had a little album full of samples, mounted and labeled as to where she had encountered them, so we could all feel and discuss. I was ten-ish and fascinated. There was a pretty clear corellation between the degree of respect for human rights and freedom of speech and the thickness and softness of the TP!
When we were in Greece in 1965, those of us (like my mom, my stepdad, and I) who had lived locally, knew not to flush such things, but to place them in the bucket provided, as the plumbing (a retrofit on an ancient building in rural Greece) could not handle such things. One of our fellow American dig staff members couldn't remember this, and we woke one morning to the sound of our excitable landlord dismantling the toilet with a sledgehammer to prevent further clogs. I expect that even in rural backwaters Greek plumbing would now be able to digest it.
T.M.I. yet? Okay. I'll skip the plumbing in Palestine. ;-)