Traditional colours

When we set about renovating this house in France, we hadn’t realised the impact of being what is, in effect, a conservation area. The house is with a certain number of metres (I can’t remember how many) of a protected, historic building and so has to be restored appropriately.

Apparently there are only four traditional colours of paint for woodwork, at least for our area: they are a pleasant light blue, a green, a dark red and another that escapes me. They vary from area to area, but those were the ones available to us. We ended up with the red. We weren't too sure about it but apparently had no choice, and it's really not too bad, just not what we were expecting.

We were pleased when we were at Chenonceau to see that we match what we took to be the gardener's "cottage" as far as paint colour is concerned. I presume they have shutters somewhere on the ground floor underneath all that greenery.

Our next door neighbour appears to have been told to use the blue but rather than having the paint specially and expensively mixed, he seems to have opted for the nearest he could find off the self. I fear he has missed the mark somewhat and the result is, how shall I put it, eye-catching? Even the bluest sky fades in its presence. The picture doesn't really do it justice but believe me, it is bright!

No doubt the sun, if it ever re-appears, will do its work on it.