Les Lavandières au Lavoir / The Washerwomen at the Wash-House was a painting of Madame Golette who did the laundry for my mother while she lived in Bargemon when she first moved to the south of France. My mother was amazed that this lady was still working hard for a living at her age and was able to do the laundry in the outdoor washhouse the whole year round. Not only is the fountain open on two side but the water feeding the large basin inside came from a spring “straight off the mountain” and was always ice cold. Madame Golette’s only comment was the translated equivalent of a shrug and “you get used to it.”

This painting is also mentioned and featured in a newspaper article when she first moved to Montauroux.

The Lavoir was one of my mother’s favorite subjects while she lived in Bargemon and she did a number of watercolors of the place.

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