Bureau, Buroc, Bureaucracy...

Do you remember those old Dubonnet ads?

I don't remember the picture - just the slogan. Now I know it was a play on words as well as following the adman's dream repetition of 3, but I think Bureaucracy could be the same (although I'm not sure if 'Buroc' or 'Bureac' has any meaning - if it has I hope it's not rude!).

The reason for this bureaucratic post is that this afternoon I paid a visit to the Mairie in Le Dorat to look at the permitted paint colours for buildings in the town. The lady asked if I had put (in my deposition about mending the roof) that I was also repainting and I said no, I knew the colours were strictly controlled but I didn't know you had to have permission for the repainting.... ...Tut, tut, you should have put it all on the last application, but it's too late now, you'll have to do another one!

So, a small forest of paper later, a plan of the shop in the town setting and a plan of the town in relation to the universe , four pictures of the exterior etc, etc, later.... ...but she was kind enough to lend me the paint colour chart of which they had, of course, only the one copy. Bring it all back tomorrow, she said and, of course, it will take up to two months for the permission to come through, so you can't start the work until then.

Back home I thought I would scan in the colour chart for future reference, should I ever want to paint the insides of my eyelids while standing in Le Dorat, for example...

...two different printer ink cartridges later I had my copies...but they were a bit different from the originals, although the colour match was perfect on the computer screen. Damn cheap printers!
(The pictures above are actually photographs).

There was a Limoges telephone number on the chart so I rang up and asked if I could buy a chart for myself. The lady was very helpful and said I didn't have to, they were free, and she would put one in the post to me. Hooray for helpful fonctionnaires!

Just have to fill in the forms now.....