Neighbors II: Madame Grise

la maison de Madame Grise

I find the subject of my neighbors so fascinating I just have to go on and tell you about all of them. I know that you read with great interest my post about our evil nemesis & arch enemy neighbor TDL. I told you we had other nice neighbors. We do. I told you I'd tell you about them and as promised I will, little by little and one by one.

Well, let's see. The next neighbor I'll tell you about is Madame Grise. Madame Grise lives at the top of our street in a house she just bought last year. This house was on the market alongside ours. We briefly considered touring this completely renovated house but fools that we were we changed our minds. There was just something about it, I don't know how to say it other than it lacked charm. For awhile we lamented not seeing it. I mean it had an indoor shower! But it does lack charm and it can't really be recaptured. First of all someone obviously tore out the classic old, wood steps and replaced them with concrete. The craggly, wood steps are an important part of the region and only two houses on the street still have theirs. The exterior stone was eventually neatly spray stuccoed and painted gray and the wood rails going upstairs were certainly replaced by the stock manufactured variety. Unfortunately the house, like so many others on the street lost nearly all of its charm in the process.

But back to Madame Grise. I really admire and like her. In a country where women age quickly and willingly, Madame Grise is not the profile of the rapidly aging French woman. Where her 60 year old hair should normally be cropped and permed, Madame Grise wears it in a long, gray ponytail. Where she should have sensible pointy-toed, black or brown Mephistoes, she often wears sneakers or Birkenstocks. And where she should be donning a practical, flowered housecoat, she is usually zipped into a polar fleece sweater and comfortable jeans. But what really sets her apart from her contemporaries is that she smiles. Every time I pass her on the street she smiles and says "bonjour." Now that's something.

We are quite lucky to have Madame Grise and her litte dog too (err uh he's rather big actually). Oh yes, yes her dog. She has almost the only dog on the street. He's one of those sort of irradiated schnauzers. You know the oversized variety, nearly as big as a great dane. Madame Grise apparently gets dog food samples for him in the mail from Science Diet. Last summer though they sent her some cat food by mistake. She stopped by and gave the samples to me. That's how I met her. "I know you have two cats" she said. "I thought they'd like this." I was in shock. She'd noticed me and my indoor cats somehow. In France this doesn't happen very often you know.

Quite impressive indeed this Madame Grise.