Numbers

In my little village there are no house numbers, nor names of streets for that matter. My sister was shocked. "How do you get your mail?" Well, the postwoman knows everyone. She often hands your mail to you personally, if you happen to be out & about, when she goes by, always with a cheerful little chat. The village is that small & that intimate. However, in larger towns & cities, like Toulouse, street names & numbers are essential & decidedly French in design.





Those in St. Antonin are regulated & all the same, an off white enamel rectangle with a rust colored border & numeral.





In Toulouse, however, the numbers vary greatly. From the super sized modern cement "2" above, to the most recent official blue metal disks, below. In this photo an up to date "3" is placed above an ancient crumbling arched doorway.





None of these quite have the presence, that the beautiful blue enamel plaques of Paris streets. But the older numbers in Toulouse are lovely in their own right.




A white enamel oval with black numeral was once the official style, as you can see in the "4" above & the close up of a broken & chipped "5" below.





A few other numbers I found interesting while wandering the streets of Toulouse, where the ceramic numerals like this "11".




Or the few numbers that more closely reflect the Parisian style as the "17" below.




I, also, found interesting the stenciled "29" on an elaborate piece of stonework.





This fading "30", placed on the beautiful rose colored brick, that is typical to Toulouse, next to the worn but intricate sculptural relief, also caught my eye.





But without a doubt the "45" below was my all time favorite! I am sure you can see why.