Wednesday 13 May 2009

Wisteria and P.

Rue des Teinturiers
Rue des Teinturiers with its little stream running alongside it used to be the street where dyeing manufacturers operated. Water mills were used to supply the large quantities of water needed to rinse off the dye. Today four of the wheels are still visible a little further upstream. With its old facades and cobblestone paving, rue des Teinturiers remains one of Avignon's most picturesque streets. With a blooming wisteria, spring is in the air.
BTW - I spy with my little eye something beginning with P which can fly. Can you see it?

Avec sa sorgue (petit cours d'eau) qui court tout le long, la rue des teinturiers était autrefois celle des... teinturiers. De larges de roues de moulin apportaient aux ateliers les grandes quantités d'eau nécessaires au trempage et au rinçage. Quatre de ces roues sont encore visibles aujourd'hui et la rue des teinturiers, avec ses façades anciennes et ses pavés fatigués, reste l'une des plus pittoresques d'Avignon. Une glycine y ajoute un petit air de printemps.
PS - Pigeon vole ! Mais les miens sont deux et ne volent pas. Vous les voyez ?

25 comments:

native d'Avignon said...

Durant mon enfance je passais tous les dimanche après-midi devant cette maison, qui est située peu avant la Chapelle des Pénitents Gris. Mes parent m'emmenaient avec eux pour y assister aux vêpres chantées en latin. Et en voyant cette jolie maison avec ses élégantes ferronneries et sa belle glycine, je rêvais d'habiter là.

Les pigeons ont l'air dubitatif quant à la qualité de l'eau de la Sorgue !

Marie-Noyale said...

Je me souviens de la chapelle des penitents mais pas de cette jolie grille en fer forgé..
Etait ce le matin de bonne heure les volets de la maison voisine sont clos?
cela expliquerait l'air un peu endormi des 2 tourtereaux!!

Pigeon Pal said...

Looks like those two "p" birds are about to enter a serious relationship... by any chance did you see the lovely piece on this blog in Norway about two pigeons that just got married ? It is hilarious, and her photos are out of this world too... the pigeon story is a few posts down, but fairly recent still, well worth the visit... in just a matter of weeks this blog has skyrocketed to over 300 followers...

http://tunesphoto.blogspot.com/

Best, Pigeon Pal

Brigetoun said...

vus -- parmi les charmes de la rue des Teinturiers tu oublies le parfum

Thérèse said...

Elle a beaucoup de charme cette photo: le pont, les vieilles pierres, l'eau, la glycine, les amoureux rien n'y manque...

Dina said...

This is indeed lovely and the pigeons on the wire, too.

I once lived in a hamlet in Neuchatel, CH, with the running canal water and the tall barn-like structure which were once used to make les indiennes cloth. Needless to say, it was a charming and very special place. Like yours.

Jilly said...

Beautiful image. How exquisite this is - the water, the bridge, the wrought-iron and of course the wisteria. Et les pigeons! I could stand and look at this for a long, long time.

claude said...

C'est un très joli petit coin.
Ce sont deux pigesons qui s'aimaient d'amour tendre mais qui semblent un peu casse-cou. Plouf ! Plouf !

you-wee because said...

Interesting to see that the flowering progress in the south of France is nearly the same we have here in our part of Germany.
Perhaps the reason for that was the very warm April at Germany.
The flowering of the wisteria blossoms already exceeded its zenith in our hometown. I took some pictures of this great "explosion of blossoms" already one week ago...
http://you-wee-because.blogspot.com/2009/05/wisteria-lane-wisteria-balcony.html

Regards, Uwe.

OscottLocal said...

That is one of your most beautiful picture so far, truly heavenly.

Adam said...

I think, or I hope, that you mean 'dyeing' manafucturers, and not industrialists taking their last breaths!

A lovely photo though, and one that seems quite familiar from many other French towns and cities that have used water in this way. It's not only pretty but also a reminder of an industrial past.

Nathalie H.D. said...

Adam - oooops! Thank you for correcting my spelling: dying and dyeing are not synonymous!

lasiate said...

huum ! les glycines. tous les souvenirs du chemin du collège

Owen said...

Bonjour Nat, I just went to take a look at the blog that "Pigeon Pal" suggested above, the pigeon pictures "Just Married" are indeed quite funny... what a sense of pigeon humor she has... So, is the bridge in this picture the only way in and out of the house there? And what happened to the water, it looks cloudy, gray, was there some dyeing going on upstream, or had something just died in there? Not sure I'd want to drink it anyway... have a great day...

delphinium said...

ce sont des pigeons qui veulent apprendre à nager mais qui n'osent pas encore se mouiller. On peut donc dire des pigeons un peu peureux.
Et pourtant les températures montent quand même un peu. On parle même de l'ouverture des piscines en plein air pour la fin de la semaine. Mais moi je ne suis pas pigeonne, je vais attendre qu'il fasse un peu plus chaud.

Virginia said...

What a beautiful image N. I"m with Jilly, I would look at it for a long time. The wrought iron, the stone and the wisteria make for a wonderful composition. I"m not a pigeon fan, but those are pretty cute!
V

Bergson said...

Ces pigeons veulent absolument être sur ton blog au risque de tomber dans l'eau.=> pigeon coule

Anna said...

I spent a year in Avignon during my college years and returned after that for a brief time to work near St. Remy...
What wonderful memories! I love seeing this shot taken in the rue des Teinturiers, the little street I always made sure to include in my walks around Avignon! It's especially fun during the Festival. Tell me, do you know if that wonderful, slightly gritty bar (Cave ___?) is still there? I love to think of it there...what a good place for a cold glass of rosé on a hot afternoon (and, of course, the requisite salty snack - some chips, usually - that come with it)!
Ah, qu'est-ce qu'Avignon me manque!

jeff said...

Sûr qui volent pas tes deux pigeons...! Ils attendent de piquer un tête dans l'eau... mais le "clic" d'un appareil photo a dû couper leur élan...!
Par contre la flotte incite peu à la baignade...! Mais pourquoi je parle de baignade au fait...???

Belle photographie cependant nathalie in Avignon !... Ciao !

Clueless in Boston said...

Very pretty little scene. I would like to see it painted; or processed with one of Photoshops filters to give it that painterly effect.

Catherine said...

Les teinturiers ont fermé boutique, non ? Du moins les volet.
Il reste de belle demeures de caractère qui témoignent du faste d'une époque révolue. Et les pigeons, gardiens du site, jouent aux funambules pour passer les heures.

Nathalie said...

Anna - yes, the wine bar called "la cave" still exists and the crowds still spill over the cobblestone street to enjoy their drinks outdoors (especially the smokers!). They regularly have great gigs too and I love hearing the music when I walk past. The doors are always open even in winter!
Actually La Cave is one of the only places in rue des Teinturiers that remain open year round when most other shops are seasonal and only open in summer.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful scene - love the bridge and the wisteria is one of my all time favourites!

Anna said...

Bonjour Nathalie,

Thanks, it's good to know that La Cave is still there.
Oh, I need to go back! I would so love to find a way to live in the area again. I just love the Vaucluse. I'm finishing up a degree now in French lit...only the dissertation to go (only...ugh). But I'm always scheming, trying to think of ways to get back there.

Today, I would like to have a good walk around Avignon: maybe a coffee at the bar next to Utopia, lunch at La Fourchette (if it's still there) or at l'Epicerie in La Place St. Pierre...and a good glass of wine, too.

Tomate Farcie said...

I love Wisteria. There is a lot of it growing in my neighborhood in California.

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