roupillon

See the little sign hanging from the clothespin (lower left)? The faded writing reads "Je suis couchée" ("I am in bed"). Leave it to the French to post such warnings out front their doors! Discover the sleepy town (and sleepy inhabitants...) of Mirabel-aux-Baronnies in today's story column.

roupillon (roo-pee-yon) noun, masculine

    nap, siesta

piquer / faire un roupillon = to have a nap, rest.

Sound File & Example Sentence
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Pas loin de Nyons les gens se couchent, ils font des roupillons.
Not far from Nyons, the people lie down, and take a nap.

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A Day in a French Life...
Kristin Espinasse

"Naptime Near Nyons"

Over fragrant French hills and through grapevines teeming with leaves... past fruit trees, branches bowing, weighted down by cerises*... beyond, count them, un, deux--au moins trois--églises*... there lies the old tattered town of Mirabel-aux-Baronnies.

I wander up and down its sleepy streets, see a faded sundial, a fish-faced fountain, and a church steeple. In private gardens acanthus and purple lavender grow... but where, I wonder are the townspeople?

Through an arch in a stone wall I follow a path goudronné,* climb stairs up to the nestled village, traverse a few placettes*. There are lauriers-roses,* passiflore,* jasmine--and yet--where are the gardeners, where are the locals?

A clue and an answer lie just around the bend, beyond a beaten bamboo fence... where a citoyenne* lies sleeping at the front door, in the hall entrance! There, flanked by a narrow door frame, a cot has been placed; in it, a dozing dame!

I can just spot her twinkle toes, at the edge of the bed, a draped door curtain covers the rest, hiding her sleepy head.

The sweet scene is the most delightful and quirky yet -- it is everything I love about France: eccentric, original, authentic.

I tuck my camera under my arm and walk on. They say "Let sleeping dogs lie" and, of sleeping dames, well--it's not polite to spy!

*     *     *

Post note: I have only ever seen humans stand in a doorway... until I moved to France, where the French are wont to pull up a chair (or a cot) flush with door-sill, and watch the world walk by, or simply be still.

Comments, corrections--and stories of your own--are always welcome and appreciated. Click here to access the comments box.

Note: there are several photos that accompany this story. Don't miss them in an upcoming photo bouquet over at Cinéma Vérité! (In tomorrow's photo blog we'll enjoy over 15 pictures of Hyères--and another character!).


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~French Vocabulary~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
la cerise (f) = cherry; un, deux--au moins trois...églises = one, two--at least three--churches; goudronner = to tar; la placette (f) = "little place" (square); le laurier-rose (m) = oleander, rosebay; la passiflore (f) = passionflower; la citoyenne (le citoyen) = citizen

In books: because today's topic touches on the art of living (something the French might have learned from the Italians?) I thought some of you language lovers might appreciate this new book:

La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language
by Dianne Hales

A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman’s personal quest to speak fluent Italian.

For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is powerfully seductive. But to truly become Italian, one must learn the language. This is how Dianne Hales began her journey. In La Bella Lingua, she brings the story of her decades-long experience with the “the world’s most loved and lovable language,” together with explorations of Italy’s history, literature, art, music, movies, lifestyle, and food in a true opera amorosa—a labor of her love of Italy.

Three Random Words:
nier = to deny
oyat (m) = beachgrass
PV (p.-v.) (procès-verbal) = fine (speeding, parking ticket)

Comments

[Karin]

It reminds me of the old song: Voulez vous couchee avec moi ce soir? Of course, now I'm not sure of the spelling: couchez?

Karin

[Christine Dashper]

Hi Krisitn,

Thanks for this gentle tale. It creates such a lovely feel of soft summer afternoons. The afternoon nap....aah. The pictures you create with your words are as vivid as the ones you take with your camera.

all the best
Chris

[Jane Waterhouse]

Oh what a wondrous thing language is, and the differences between apparently similar tongues. In England clothespins are called clothes pegs, commonly abbreviated to just "pegs" as in "pegging out the washing". I would never have known it was otherwise, so thanks for the little lesson in differences between our different versions of the same language.

Jane in the Minervois

[Jeanne]

I think Karin is a bit young or innocent or both. That song is asking for more than a nap, s'il vous plait!!

[Jeanne]

this is what Wikipedia has to say about Voulez vous coucher avec mois!!

The phrase has sometimes been taken as awkward French because of its formality—Voulez-vous… uses the formal pronoun vous, indicating some kind of distance between the protagonists, which may not seem consistent with sexual activity nowadays. One would expect lovers to be using the informal pronoun tu, making the phrase Veux-tu coucher avec moi (ce soir)?", a sentence that still may sound awkward to French native speakers ("Tu veux coucher avec moi (ce soir)?" or "On couche ensemble (ce soir)?" would indeed sound much more natural).

However, the usage of the polite form voulez-vous may be consistent with high-class prostitution. Both "Lady Marmalade" and the poem allude to prostitution. In addition, using "vous" implies that the participants have just (or not yet) met, and forms an interesting juxtaposition with the intimacy of sex.

Alternatively, vous can be simply a plural form, indicating multiple sex partners. (French uses the same form for denoting both plurality and politeness; see T-V distinction.)

Due to the more widespread usage of se coucher, a reflexive form of coucher, the phrase is frequently misinterpreted as grammatically incorrect. Se coucher refers only to the act of going to bed, whereas coucher means lovemaking explicitly. Thus, the "corrected" form of the phrase, "Voulez-vous vous coucher avec moi?" actually means "Do you want to go to bed with me?" and contains none of the sexual connotations of the original, similar to the situation in English slang between "go to bed with me" and "bed me."

[karen]

Sweet story, Kristin. I remember hanging a note on my front door that read "Nap-time" so that people wouldn't ring the doorbell while the children slept - in essence I was saying "go away". But this note in your story makes me think that the woman is saying " I'm only napping. Wake me if anything happens."

Now, the question is: Who is this note meant for? The whole town was resting! Maybe she'd been awaiting a meandering photo-journalist to brighten her day??

[Karin]

Jeanne, that's interesting! I never thought to look it up on wikipedia. I know, of course, the connotations, which is why we liked it when it was on the radio a lonnnnnngggg time ago!

[Pat]

Delightful little story today. In a similar vein I remember the sleeping porches during my childhood in the South. Cots or mattress would be hauled out to a screened porch on sweltering summer nights--so enchanting falling asleep w/the night sounds and hopefully, bit of breeze. This is inspiration for me to sleep on the tiny porch off my bedroom--3 stories high among the backyard treetops--what have I been waiting for!! Biensur, for the oft-occurring INSPIRATION des francaise, via FWaD. I spent Wednesday morning cleaning this porch which had been neglected/unused for a very long time. Excellent timing, n'est-ce pas?! Merci, Kristin.

Re: Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir--egads how we loved to sing that song...so delightfully naughty...and nos parents did not know what we were saying...et possible, je chanterais ces mots de la chanson, ce soir, sur my "porch de dormir"! ha ha ha, I am laughing already...(sur/dans/a...never know which one to use!)

[Pat]

According to Yahoo Babel Fish: my sleeping porch would be: "porche de sommeil" - now what exactly does one wear for evenings a la porche, quand on chantes a sa mari..."voulez vous..." - of course I am joking. My cher mari sleeps in his own room and is usualy conked out by 9:30 and that takes us back to another FwaD topic, dare I say it, s.n.o.r.i.n.g. - MINE! I'm still going to enjoy that porche!

[Pat]

Ce soir je dormirai sur le porche parce qu'il est là, où j'entendrai les bruits de nuit et sentirai la magie de son mystère.

[Mona]

Perhaps not but this blog post is for me. I love roupillons (never heard of ever before), and I am always sleepy. Furthermore, i am going to make a sign that says, "Alo mes petits chats, JE SUIS COUCHEE! Laisse-moi dormir" . Of course they need to take French lessons first.

Absolutely love this post and this town.

Smooches and hugs!

[Karin]

Oh, Pat, it was delightfully naughty and our parents didn't know, LOL!

The only time I slept on a sleeping porch, I was about 8 and slept over at an adjacent cottage with the rest of the kids. I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. My mother said: didn't you know you were being bitten?

I'm not sure if I did or not, at this late date, but I looked like I had chicken pox and they itched like crazy!

[Cerelle]

Sleeping mid afternoon?? Of course, I understand this. You were in the South, n'est pas? Here in the Southwest USA, I am up before the sun to water my garden and work outside for by 9:00 it is already very hot. So we do take a nice nap mid afternoon and then enjoy the evening. ("Siesta", remember Kristin?)

[Cerelle]

PS..The sign was a brilliant idea! NOW, if we could just put that message on the phone for all those automated sales calls that come just as I have dropped off to sleep!

[Sinclair]

Marvelous! I am so making one of those signs, and I will post it next to the potted peach tree on the deck in front of my porch swing. Where I plan to have a few sunkissed naps this season. Also, I learned something from the comments here, and I do like the phrase "pegging out the wash" more than my "putting wash on the line." My sign will say "I am asleep" -- or "I am resting" --how do you say that in French? checking your archives...

[Chris]

Beautiful... and the timing is so right, a nice summer day to be carefree and enjoy the day and a good nap too. Today is my birthday!

Merci beaucoup Kristin.

[Kristin]

Chris: Joyeux Anniversaire! Have a great day :-)

Pat: How was your night out on the porch, under the stars?

[Gretel]

It is 3.46 in the afternoon. I am in the backroom with the late winter sun steaming through the window warming us with a fuzzy blanket of air. My husband is snoozing on the daybed behind me as we await for another long evening of wondering where our errant teenagers have disapeared to now that we have a newly minted 18 year old and legal son...."roo-pee-yon" I have just whispered..."huh?" says the sleeper behind? A perfect word for now!

[Gretel]

Jeanne...your "Wikipedia" comments today have made me laugh!

[Kristin]

Gretel: really enjoyed your slice-of-life. Bon courage with the "kids", newly-minted and otherwise.

[Cynthia in France]

I laughed out loud when I saw the 'sleeping warning' in the photo. Do the French take their relaxation seriously, or what? My dear husband takes a 1/2 hour nap EVERYDAY, when he's home and not out driving TGVs. As an American, I take the nap time to work. What a difference in cultures. We laugh all the time about how incredibly different our cultures and routines are. Viva la difference! Cynthia in the French Alps

[Pat Cargill]

It was too cool to sleep on the porch, so I have not yet done so. Must find a cot first, which until my cher mari cleaned out the basement, we had! You alway toss out those things you haven't used in eons and then within days, weeks or months, find you want to use again. I can at least sleep w/the door open for now. Sweet dreams.

[Paul O"Neill]

can there be any place more beautiful than Aix-en-provence?

This is a beautiful site! The charm of old buildings and unique atmosphere of the French countryside is truly "Magnifique"!