OK. A very quick note. The flurry of comments at the end of my last post are too good not to comment on. It seems that my romantic notions of a carpenter signing his work were slightly misplaced. The “name” I saw scrawled on the beam was, in fact, the name of the beam itself. However, it also seems that it was the tradition in greater and more important works for the carpenters to sign their constructions. So, there you have it.
In any case, I stand by what I said about signatures. And I love seeing the word scrawled on the wood, right there in the middle of my summer home-to-be. I thank everyone who knows more about French than I do for their comments. The whole exchange was a perfect example of how an ex-patriot sort of happily limps along in a foreign world, learning by feel and bumping awkwardly into things that aren’t well understood.
The Daily Cure 
Dear Charlotte!!
you’re not really wrong
we rent an old farm in the “Haute Savoie” and on the front, at the top of the “charpente”,they signed and put the year .
our farm was built in 1792 so the date was there and the family name too.
for YOUR barn i think you could find also the year???
i send kisses to you and Mr Arbaletrier….
so i say in french “sans rancune”i find a translation in the dictionnary;”let bygones be bygones”????
The funny thing is that it was our architect that suggested to us that it was the builder’s signature, so yes, it was done…just maybe not here. Oh well. Kisses back at you. Hope to see you soon, Michele.
I thought it was wonderful to find the signature, whatever the explanation.
LOL. Thanks for that Ms. BdL!!
… I agree with “bagni” …
xo, A