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(end of 19th century) |
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The ancestral peasant dwelling in the Pays de Retz is a low stone walled house. Generally it comprised of one huge single room. Long beams supported a single layer of laths under the tiles.
At one of the gable ends stands the chimney; on the mantlepiece are crucifix, dried flowers, holy pictures and candleholders. A red checked curtain scarcely hides the ham and the links of sausages flavoured by the smoke rising from the wide, low hearth.
The furniture leans against the walls : beds, wardrobe, dresser, clock, sideboard.
In one corner stands a huge four-poster bed, beside which is a long blanket chest, doubling as a seat. Note the wooden bedwarmer (moine en bois), to the left of the bed.
The man of the house has just finished his supper, a good soup, a piece of bacon ham and a chunk: of bread sliced from the loaf in the breadrack swinging above his head. He smokes a pipe while his good woman spins by the fireside.
The "bourrine" in the marsh.
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