May Memoir: Ca va? Stories from Rural Life in Southern France, Chapter 14: Les Poeles

Remember this important detail: when a poele is cracked, it smokes!

Welcome to May MEMOIR!

Day 15

For the entire month of May, I'll be sharing part of each chapter from my memoir, Ca va?  Stories from Rural Life in Southern France.

Now that we’ve collected all the wood needed, we decided it’s time to get a wood heater, or poele.  A friend loaned us one, but we quickly found out it wasn’t the gift we hoped it would be.

Chapter 14: Les Poeles

That Friday night, Christophe arrives home with the poele in his truck.  I’m excited to see it, so I step outside when I hear him arrive.  He has a skeptical look on his face.

“What is it?”  I ask.

“I don’t know what condition this poele is in,” he says.

“What’s the matter?”

“Let’s get it in the living room and we’ll take a closer at look at it,” he says.

We both take one end of the stove size metal box and easily lift it from the truck.

“It’s aluminum,” Christophe says.  “And that’s not good for heating.”

We quickly maneuver it through the house and place it in the living room.  We step back and look at it.  It’s hideous.  It’s faded red and white façade has rusted dents and it tilts to one side because it’s missing one leg.  Christophe opens the door and look inside.  He then shakes his head.

“This wasn’t worth bringing into the house,” he says.

“Why?” I ask a bit disappointed.

“The inside,” he says.  “It’s where we put the wood.  It’s broken to pieces.  If the seal isn’t perfect the poele won’t work, all it will do is send smoke throughout the house.  We’ll have to find another solution.”

“Do you have any ideas?”  I ask.

“Not at the moment,” he pauses.  “But we’ll find one,” he continues trying to bring up my spirits.

            The next morning, we load the broken heater back into Christophe’s truck to take to the dump.  Chantal sees us from her window and comes outside to say hello.

            “What’s that?”  She asks.

            “Claude’s broken heater,” says Christophe.  “He gave it to us, but it’s worthless.  We’re taking it to the dump.”

            “If you need a poele, why don’t you use the one I have in my basement?”  Chantal asks.

            We both look at Chantal and our jaws drop.

            “You have an extra poele?”  Christophe asks.

            “It’s the one I used when I lived in the old farm house.  This apartment already had one installed, so I don’t need it.”

            “Yes!  Let’s take a look at it.  Where is it?”  Christophe asks excitedly.

            “In my basement,” Chantal says while walking back to her apartment with Christophe.

            A few minutes later, Christophe emerges with the heater on his shoulder.  It’s smaller than Claude’s poele, but it looks to be in much better condition.

            “Use it as long as you want,” Chantal says.

            We are both ecstatic with this unexpected gift that has fallen in our laps.  Christophe stands back and looks at it proudly.  Then, he opens it to see the wood foyer, and his look changes.

            “Chantal, has this poele been cracked?”  He asks.

            “Just a little bit,” she says.  “But I repaired it.”

            Christophe tries to hide his disappointment, but I can tell by how he’s cocking his eyebrow this is not good.  He puts on a front and thanks Chantal and carries the heater into the house.

            “It’s been cracked and repaired a few times,” he tells me once inside.  “But, it’s better than Claude’s, so it’ll do for now.”