Then, when we had settled on dreaming about having a house
in the Languedoc, I just knew I wanted one with shutters.
The house we bought in Caunes has brown shutters.
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| Our shutters |
Friends in the village told us that a few years ago, whilst
painting their shutters, they received a note, from the Mairie, through the door,
telling them to stop painting, as they had selected the wrong shade of olive
green.
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| This is apparently the approved shade of olive green that our friends finally used......correctly. |
We were told that if
we decided to paint our shutters, we should go to the Mairie, look at their
approved colour chart, memorise the colour, as the chart could not be taken
from the Marie, and buy the said approved colour. We looked around the village and realised that were a number of so called approved colours and they were all quite muted, sort of "heritage" colours.
We have now spent 2 years considering painting our brown
shutters……and yes, we quite like the “approved” olive green colour……So, went to
the Mairie to look at the colour chart.
There, to our surprise, we were given a sample colour swatch to take away, to
compare with the charts in the shops, and were told that it was “pas grave” if
we chose a colour that was not exactly the same…..basically anything that
wasn’t bright yellow would be “pas grave”.
So, it seems that times change.
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| Approved or not ? Who knows
Wandering around Caunes during the last few days I have seen some enchanting volets.
        
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We have decided that our house was built with brown shutters, and that it actually suits brown shutters. However, although we have saved considerable time and effort and expense by coming to this decision, it is good to know that should we change our minds, " C'est pas grave". if we don't quite manage to find the exact shade on the Mairie's list.
When we wanted to renovate a sixteenth century building in a historic town centre we had to go to see the Architect de Batiments de France for permissions of all sorts.
ReplyDeleteWe had intended to keep the front door in its original state...but he seemed quite keen that we should paint it scarlet 'to liven up the street'!
We didn't.
On the other hand, when we rendered the last house we had in its entirety there were no controls in place in that commune so we went ahead and did a two colour scheme of pink and grey that made it look somewhat less like Dracula's castle..
When it was finished the maire came to tell us to redo it in 'ton pierre'.
You may imagine what we told the maire. It stayed pink and grey and very nice too.
I was pretty sure you would have some experience of this issue ! What amazes me is how helpful the Marie was....no problem at all. Pink and grey sounds good.
DeleteI absolutely adore French shutters - and c'est pas grave which ever colour they are. I think, though, that my favourites from your wonderful selection are the third ones down...surely an approved olive green. Absolutely fanastic, Janice. (PS did you ever see the magic man?) Axxx
ReplyDeleteIt's just so funny that we were expecting the Marie to be difficult....they couldn't have been more help...or more laid back. The woman we spoke to actually said that it was crazy to insist on particular colours as the sun faded all the colours anyway ! No.....the magic man has not been required ! Jxxx
DeleteLove your pictures of volets - an amazing collection.However I am particularly taken by the ironwork in picture no 6 which would make an amazing quilting pattern. Would you mind if I used your photograph please?
ReplyDeleteNo problem Lin, you are welcome to use the photo.
DeleteStrangely, shutters are quite rare now in Bodrum. I still want some though.
ReplyDeleteI'd hate not to have ours now....they really do work at keeping the heat out in the middle of summer. I never thought I'd want to block out the sunshine....but that comes from living in Yorkshire for all those years.
DeleteLove all your photos Janice!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maria.
DeleteMy good old French dictionary is letting me down, and the only meaning for Marie I find is about marriage. I am guessing it is the local government, Janice? They are very particular, but the muted colours are very attractive, though I must admit my favourite is that delicious raspberry colour. Very chic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough hotel de ville is the dictionary definition of town hall.....most people use "mairie" as the name for the local centre of a commune's administration.....many small town halls have "Mairie" written above the main entrance... it is where the mayor is based....le maire. My spelling doesn't help of course, in that in my post I called it le marie and it is le mairie !
DeleteBeautiful shutters! I always wonder why faded, flaking paint looks so wonderful in France and just tatty in the UK - a mystery!
ReplyDeleteYou are right, perhaps we are just critical of things in our own country and hopelessly romantic about things foreign ! Most of the French people I know prefer to live in modern houses with electric metal shutters. Its just the daft ex pats that want picturesque tatty shutters !
DeleteHaha, this is so typical! I\d have thought your house is so far from the centre of the village that it wouldn't matter what colour you painted them. In general, I don't like brown shutters -- but on some houses they just look right.
ReplyDeleteI love the window with the twirly, leafy metalwork. That's one of my favourite shutter colours too, it looks so nice when it weathers (no coincidence that our shutters are that colour, and we didn't ask anyone's permission).
I just think that attitudes to conformity have mellowed a little, and as the woman in the mairie told us...the sun bleaches everything anyway. Some of the metalwork on windows can be lovely too, you're right.
DeleteIt is a problem I would love to have ... I'd put shutters on my very English house, except they's look silly here ... such practical things, shutters.
ReplyDeleteThey are really practical....perfect for deflecting that strong summer sun and keeping the insides cool.
DeletePerfect photos Janice.They made me think of sunshine as i viewed them---especially as today we have had heavy downpours.We went up to Bolster Moor and got a real soaking.x Maria
ReplyDeleteMust admit to not looking forward to returning to a Yorkshire winter...except that the kids will be there, so the weather doesn't really matter. A shame to leave the glorious blue skies here though.
DeleteI love your photos, Janice; the shutters, the ironwork, the historical elements, and the head in the last one - and now I know what a Mairie is. Our town isn't old enough to have restrictions, but, there are areas that do.
ReplyDeleteWe have been wanting to paint the doors, frames, and rails here. You've given me incentive to proceed.
Looking around our town has had the opposite effect on us Penny. We have decided that the brown shutters actually suit our house...so, brown they will stay, until of course, I fancy a change.
DeleteThank you Janice
ReplyDeleteIf it's tatty french shutters you want, you can have ours, Janice. Faded, peeling brown, which is the usual colour up here in Normandy, along with white and the occasional bright blue. No sea-green or raspberry or even olive green here. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether there's been a change of Maire or Maire's secretary (sometimes the most important person in the place) and the new person is more laidback or sensible.
Friends have told us that our brown shutters are actually really good quality. They aren't tatty at all, which might not be quite so picturesque, but means they are efficient and they don't need painting ! This sounds good to me. The olive green would have to be repainted every couple of years.....these very solid brown ones have been treated in such a way as they should last for years, just as they are....now that was good planning I think. I think you might be right about the Maire. There has been a new one recently....a woman, perhaps someone with a bit of common sense !
DeleteI have been planning a 'shutters' post. Shutters are something so quintessentially French: they don't even think about them but we do. We have heard of other places where the Maire has been very authoritarian about what colour is acceptable. I think you have chosen well. Yours should last for years. Ours, which are painted, have to be done every 2 years. I'm starting to feel that I'm getting too old for this...!
ReplyDeleteI've always dreamed of owning a house in the quintessential French style and you're very much living that dream. I've heard of the harsh regulations when it comes to styling houses there. I guess that's a way for the town to preserve its traditional beauty and style integrity. Anyway, I just love French shutters. I do hope everything's sorted out by this time. All the best!
ReplyDeleteAlan Sullivan @ Window Pro