17 May 2013

Abri, cabane, cabanon...

I took a picture of our garden shed, and I was thinking about what a garden shed is called in French. I've heard at least three expressions: (1) un abri de jardin, meaning a garden "shelter"; (2) une cabane de jardin, meaning a "cabin" or "hut"; or (3) un cabanon de jardin, meaning a slightly larger construction.

I plugged all three of those expressions into a Google image search, and I got basically the same photos each time. I guess abri, or shelter, is the best term. A bus shelter, for example, can be called un abribus — which turns out to be a brand name.


Then I noticed a web page showing the abri or cabanon de jardin shown above. Wow. What would you do with such a structure? Why would you want one? I guess I just don't get it. Add on a tiny kitchen (un coin cuisine) and a small shower room (une salle d'eau) and you've got a nice Paris apartment.


Meanwhile, here's a photo of our cabane de jardin. It needs refurbishing, but it serves the purpose, which is sheltering the lawn mower, the rototiller, a couple of wheelbarrows, and various shovels and rakes. Not to mention a lot of spiders.

11 comments:

  1. I like yours best !!
    Much more "commode"!

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  2. I think that the "posh" one appeals to the mentality that requires and outdoor room... probably someone with a taste in music that isn't that of their partner... or someone who likes the "outdoors" but not the insect life...
    I wouldn't say no to it if someone gave it as a present... for the first reason I thought of... Pauline's hearing is too sensitive to stand my taste in heavy music... be it Wagner or Whitesnake, Handel or Hawkwind, Mozart or Meatloaf... they all need to be listened to at concert volume!!

    So for everyone else's sake you need a small, soudproofed cubicle to soak up the sounds!!

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  3. Well, yours certainly has a nice, bright, clean white door!

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  4. what an adorable shed!... but its just screaming for a few chickens. could be a great chicken house.
    ;-)

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  5. That you "don't get it" is the reason we like you, Ken.

    BTW, a belated congratulations to you on Walt on making it through that tough first year. Statistically, you ought to be OK now as a couple.

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  6. What Bob said. Love the windows of your shed.

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  7. Your cabane de jardin just needs a little paint.

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  8. Tim, I see your point about having a separate space for listening to loud music (because I'm like Pauline about that). But in this climate, that cabanon would need to have some kind of heating system installed in it! And it would need electricity.

    Judy, we had that door put on the shed in 2004. When we bought the house, there was no door at all out there, just a big piece of corrugated metal standing up against the doorway to more or less close it up.

    OFG, I keep thinking about keeping chickens. Maybe one day.

    Bob, thanks for the nice thoughts. Did you see that the Conseil Constitutionnel validated le mariage pour tous yesterday. Wow! Now we have to work on getting our marriage validated over here.

    Starman, what it needs first is a good cleaning with some kind of bleach product to remove the stains on the exterior walls. That might be enough.

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  9. Ken, those stains look to me as though the chicken wire used to "key" the render is beginning to rust and leach through... you see it on a lot of houses around here... there is one near Yzeures-sur-Creuse... Wyzzers to me... that has a positively organic look on the gable end!!

    The "posh" caban obviously has electric... probably run under the path... and if the twin walls are well insulated, you can probably get away with a radiant heater... provided those windows are facing south.... but the really cost a fortune, don't they... I think if you could afford one, you wouldn't really be worried about the cost of heating!! Rather like a Rolls... if you ask what the MPG is... you can't afford to run it!!

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  10. I'd imagine some people might want one of those for an artist's retreat or studio--a place apart from the bustle of the house.

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