It's curtains!

These are voilages or what I would call sheers or sheer curtains. They went up pretty easily yesterday. Of course, that was after I took the old ones down, cleaned the rods, washed the windows, and vacuumed the floor. There was a fair amount of furniture moving, too. But the result was worth it.

The deck window. Tasha approves (I think).

I ordered these at a window/wall/floor decorating store up near Blois back on April 5. I got an email on Thursday the 28th informing me that they were ready for pick-up. They had to be custom made as the windows in our house are wider than standard French windows and no ready-made curtains would fit them. I went onto the store's web site for instructions on how to measure the windows for the type of curtain I wanted. I measured several times, recalling the old adage from This Old House, "measure twice, cut once." That, and the fact that custom made curtains are non-returnable. Everything had to be right. I drew up a rendering of the windows with all the measurements indicated and headed up to Blois.

The north-facing window.

The young woman in the store who took my order was very nice, very knowledgeable, and very patient with me. When I saw the fabric that we had decided on from the web site, I didn't really like it, so I picked out another. The sales agent took me through each measurement and made a couple of adjustments here and there to accommodate the hanging style, in my case oeillets (those rings in the curtain).

The old curtains were literally coming apart at the seams. And those rings were a pain to remove and reattach whenever I washed the curtains.

We bought the old curtains at the same store nineteen years ago. Their age was starting to show. Most obvious was the fabric disintegrating where it attached to the rings. The curtains were coming off the rods. Our intention was to get new curtains two years ago, but the stores closed for a while when covid hit. Then inertia took over and we just didn't get it together. Finally, the spirit moved us and now, voilà, voilages!

La glycine

Our wisteria is blooming now. It's not drop-dead gorgeous, probably because I don't prune it enough, but it's pretty nonetheless. We planted it back in 2006, I think. It was about two feet tall then.

Wisteria against the west-facing wall.

I picked up the new curtains for the living room yesterday. The store is up in the southern suburbs of Blois, about a thirty minute drive each way. While there, I went to the nearby fancy produce store and found several goodies, among them snow peas and okra. I also got some nice radishes, some arborio rice (we had risotto for lunch yesterday), and some Italian cheeses. I plan to put the curtains up today and, if I'm successful, get some photos.

Our old rototiller is history. They guy at the garden center said it wasn't worth repairing. So Ken bought a new one and it was delivered a couple of days ago. It's a smaller model than the old tiller, so it should be easier to maneuver it around the garden plot. We may make our first test run today.

The satellite dish problem is fixed, too. The guy that came to have a look noticed right away that the cover protecting the captor was gone. He said that water got inside and ruined it. After about fifteen minutes (and a nice chunk of change) he had installed a new captor our reception is perfect. Win!

I've cut two of the three yard sections over the past couple of days. Today will see the last one done. Until next time.

Tower of power

Here's the last of my mini-series of night shot photos from 1988. It's taken from the Champ de Mars, looking through the base of the Eiffel Tower toward the Palais de Chaillot. Too bad about the construction netting, but stuff happens. Let's pretend that it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the image.

Tour Eiffel by night. Digitized color slide, 1988.

Monuments like this undergo regular maintenance, cleaning/painting, and repair work. Some more frequently than others. One year, Ken and I were walking through the square in front of Notre Dame cathedral. The façade was covered in scaffolding and had been for several years. We overheard another tourist tell her friend, "The one time I come to Paris and it's covered in scaffolding." No matter when you visit Paris, something's going to be covered in scaffolding.

Place de la Concorde

Here's another in my small series of night photos from 1988. This one was taken at the western end of the Tuilieries Garden looking across the Place de la Concorde and includes two iconic Parisian monuments. The first, of course, is the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The second is the obélisque in the center of the place. The 3,300 year-old obélisque, a gift to France from Egypt in 1836, is one of two that stood in the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor.

Light trails of moving cars in the Place de la Concorde. Digitized color slide, October 1988.

The place in modern times is mostly a huge traffic circle at the base of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées on the west, the rue de Rivoli on the east, the rue Royale to the north (which runs up to the church of la Madeleine), and the Pont de la Concorde to the south, crossing the river to the Assemblée Nationale, home of the French parliament.

The place is also known for being the site of numerous executions by guillotine in the years following the French Revolution, most notably those of king Louis XVI and queen Marie Antoinette. Back then it was called Place de la Révolution.

You may have noticed that I over-exposed the obélisque. Back in the olden days, before digital photography, there was no instant gratification, no chance to look at an image to see if it worked. One had to wait until the film was developed to see how things went. I didn't use a light meter and I didn't bracket my shots most of the time. And, of course, I did not take notes to know what the exposure settings on the camera were; I was not that fastidious, at least not in photography.

Saint-Eustache

Construction of the gothic Eglise Saint-Eustache began in the early sixteenth century. It was built on the edge of Paris' central food market, les Halles, which today is a modern shopping and entertainment district and major hub of the city's subway and regional rail systems. The south tower of the church was never finished. I don't know why.

Eglise Saint-Eustache, southern façade. Digitized color slide, October 1988.

This is another of my early attempts at night photography from 1988. I think it worked better than the shot of the Fontaine Saint-Sulpice that I posted last week, but only because of luck. You could call it a shot in the dark, as it were. I can't believe that I lugged a tripod along on that trip.

Le jardin vu du ciel

This view of the Luxembourg Garden in Paris is taken from the top of the Tour Montparnasse, fifty-nine floors above ground level. On the north side of the garden is the Palais du Luxembourg, built by order of Marie de Médicis in the seventeenth century. Since 1799, the palace is home to the French Senate.

Luxembourg Palace and Garden, Paris. Digitized color slide, sometime in the 90s.

In the center of the photo you can see the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. Further north, and a little to the left, you may be able to make out the Hôtel de Ville, Paris City Hall.

Les amoureux au jardin

Another old photo taken in the Luxembourg Garden. I'm not sure when I took it. Late 80s? Early to mid 90s? I guess my organizational skills were lacking when I scanned these. And there is no meta data to consult for old slides and scans. One day I may figure it out, but it is not this day.

Looking east across the garden toward the Boulevard Saint-Michel. Digitized color slide, sometime in the early 90s (est.).

We're having reception problems with our television satellite service. The tuning boxes (we have two) seem to be working and connected to the internet (they download program info from the 'net), but they report no signal from the satellite when we try to watch. The signal just disappeared around mid-day on Saturday. The company reports no problem with the satellite itself, so it must be us. When it gets light, I'm going to have to go outside with binoculars to see if anything is visibly wrong with the dish. Whatever it looks like, we'll have to call for service. On Monday. I can't reach the dish two stories up, and I won't go that high on a ladder.

It's always something.