LAVOIR
June 29th.—We went to the lavoir which is at the end of the Avenue de Sceaux. It is covered at both sides, and the water is between. There are boxes full of straw placed along for the women to kneel on. They beat the clothes with wooden things of this shape
. When we saw it this time there were twenty women. One good-natured, civil kind of woman took us to see her wash-house, where she made lie. She told us a great deal about the lavoir. A porter takes charge of it; the blanchisseuses pay three, and the bourgeoises four sous each time, and so much for line for drying their things upon. It closes at seven o'clock. The people go to the porter and say, 'Place my boxes in such a place for so many,' and then he arranges them accordingly. I took a sketch of the side of the lavoir; the people seemed very much amused at it. One disagreeable kind of woman called out, 'Mettez moi en peinture, elle n'est pas gentille, je suis plus gentille qu'elle,' and then she held up her face to show us how pretty she was.[33] She told us to draw a woman with a barrow, and she laughed and said, 'Elle est blanchisseuse de torchons.'
LAVOIR
In France they do the things up very well, but in the washing they spoil them very much. They put the clothes into some kind of liquid which brings the colour out, and they beat them almost into holes. A gown of the servants' was quite spoiled. Our washerwoman had a little girl with green bead baskets in her ears.