Ravalement on a Paris street
AAAAAaaaaaaa! So much noise when I'm trying to write! The building next to mine is being ravalé.
In Paris, there is a legal requirement to clean a building every ten years. Although it is observed mostly in the breach, you can't let it slide too long, as there are penalties. So at least every 15 or 20 years, a building in Paris must be cleaned. This is paid for by the owners of the building, can cost more than 100,000 euros, and takes up to six months-- six months of scaffolding around the building night and day, ear-shattering noise all day long, and access by burglars to all the apartments. Everyone hates it, but it's one of the reasons Paris is so beautiful today.
I read once that when they were making the 1966 movie Is Paris Burning?, about World War II, the film team had to blast all the Paris buildings they filmed with dirt to make them look as grimy as they were during the war. Then afterwards, they had to pay to have them all ravalé to look shiny clean again.
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