La Grande Singerie

Not a cheminee,watercolor on Etsy, 5.5" x 7.5

As an American staying in a Paris apartment, you must adjust to different ways of doing things, like keeping warm.

This exquisite but nonworking fireplace/cheminee was in the Musée national de céramique Sèvres.

And there are plenty of faux cheminees to be had along rue de St.Peres.

 Micha found her 19th century furnace in the celler and installed it as a decorative object. You have to search for the chauffage or heater in a French apartment. They are usually situated below the window. So they can warm up the drafts coming in through the leaky French windows.

I only found the portable radiateur in the bedroom, the last day whilst I was cleaning...ahem

You do have to wonder how anyone kept warm.

in these grand, elegant rooms at Musee de Nissim Camondo?

No wonder so many of Ingres portraits of women show them wrapped securely in warm shawls... And no wonder the cashmere shawl was held in such high regard by the Victorians.

At Chateau Chantilly, the painting on the firescreen in La Grande Singerie is particularly lovely.

My guidebook says it was painted by Christopher Huet and was bought by the Duke of Aumale to go with the other monkey decorations in the room.

It shows a monkey schoolmaster whipping a bad cat student, as a naked monkey sits perched on a stool learning his lessons....Hmmm

Back to the subject of French heating in French apartments.

Here are a few phrases I should have learned before my trip:
Où est le radiateur?
Where is the heater?

Comment fonctionne le chauffage? How does the heater work?
L'appareil de chauffage ne fonctionne pas.
The heater is not working.Or better yet simply point and say,

"Ne marche pas."
It's not working.

Working or not, you can depend on a luscious cup of rich chocolat chaud in Paris to keep you toasty.

Have a toasty week-end!