pierre froide

English translation: hard limestone

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

French term or phrase:	pierre froide
English translation:	hard limestone
Entered by:	French Foodie

14:53 Jul 28, 2007

French to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Tourism & Travel / gites

French term or phrase: pierre froide

From a description of a self-catering rental in Provence.
It is a mas with a "vieil escalier interieur en pierre froide".

One bilingual glossary I found states "very hard limestone" - which doesn't sound very inviting.

I also found this interesting reference:
Today, The Burren is the largest surviving area of tearstic limestone in Western Europe and has the Atlantic Ocean bordering its western boundary, Galway Bay to the north, at the southern boundary the limestone slabs are covered with shale (known locally as 'cold stone' because of its poor drainage), and, to the eastern boundary of the area the limestone gives way to meadowland.

But again, shale stairs sounds a bit odd, and I definitely can't put cold stone stairs ;-)

I am thinking of simply "natural stone stairs".
But perhaps someone out there is familiar with this type of stone?

Thanks in advance.

French Foodie KudoZ activity Questions: 424 (none open) (8 closed without grading) Answers: 426
Local time: 05:08

hard limestone

Explanation:
PIERRE FROIDE. Pierre calcaire très DURE, extraite de carrière (par exemple la pierre de Ruoms en Ardèche). Angl. : very hard limestone. PIERRE QUILLÉE ...
www.pierreseche.com/vocabulaire_pierreseche_P.html

Pierre de Provence, ou pierre froide, est essentiellement localisée à Cassis (prend un beau POLI) et au Mont Caume (calcaire récifal dur, compact et homogène, nombreux fossiles).

Ces calcaires on servi depuis 2000 ans à tailler des pierres utilisées pour les constructions fameuses, la Maison Carrée à Nîmes ou Notre Dame de la Garde à Marseille (pierre de Barutel-Gard) (*10).
http://www.taille-de-pierre.fr/presse/patrimoine.php

La France est très riche an CALCAIRES de construction. Ceux-ci sont classés d'après leur DURETE en : PIERRE FROIDE, pierre DURE, pierre DEMI-DURE, pierre ferme, pierre demi-ferme, pierre tendre, pierre très tendre.
http://juraspeleo.ffspeleo.fr/divers/langue/definitions/laro...

elle provient à coup sûr d’un calcaire local extrait « en masse » d’un ... L’emploi de cette pierre à côté de la pierre froide (DURE) est fréquent ...
www.liouc-et-vous.net/Fichiers_pdf/lapierre.pdf

La pierre de Cassis est un CALCAIRE marbrier. Cette PIERRE FROIDE est exploitée depuis l'antiquité romaine pour ses QUALITES MECANIQUES. NON GELIVE, on l'utilisait pour les sous-bassements des maisons et, pour le poli qu'elle prend, elle servit pour édifier les escaliers monumentaux et pour la confection de la «pile» provençal, sorte d'évier taillé dans la masse. La calanque de Port-Miou a été un des sites d'extraction privilégié de la pierre de Cassis
http://212.81.113.104:6969/Record.htm?idlist=1&record=191221...

HARD LIMESTONE will take a high gloss polished finish, but it is traditionally honed (matte) or antiqued for floors.
http://www.haifainc.com/limestone/limestone.htm

Limestone Tiles, Flooring and Paving from Stonehouse's quality range of natural stone, ideal for walls and ... A HARD LIMESTONE that will enhance any room. ...
www.stonehousetiles.co.uk/limestone.lasso

With a unsurprisingly elegant appearance, marble tiles are elaborate and alluring, ... The bulk of stone comes from HARD LIMESTONE and dolomite strata with ...
www.allbright-shiny.co.uk/acatalog/Natural_Stone_Products.h...

Introduction Stonell supplies every type of natural stone for flooring, worktops, and wall tiles including HARD LIMESTONE, marble, travertine, slate, ...
www.stonell.co.uk/architectual/index.html

“I have been purchasing material from Minnesota Tile & Stone for over 30 years. ... “to shine,” so marbles are HARD LIMESTONE'S that accept a polish well. ...
www.mntile.com/faq.html

Limestone,Travertine,Marble,Granite,Porcelain and Sandstone tiles for walls and ... If you are looking for a good quality HARD LIMESTONE this is the answer. ...
www.alistairmackintosh.co.uk/NewFiles/Special Offers.html

Selected response from:

Bourth (X)
Local time: 05:08

Grading comment

I actually went with my original idea of natural stone (thanks to Sheila for your confirmation - it was indeed most suitable for this context), but for the purposes of the glossary I think it is best to include the technical translation. Many thanks to all!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

hard limestone

Bourth (X)

4 +1

natural stone

Sheila Wilson

3 +1

blue-grey natural limestone stair

LesBrets

slate staircase

Susan Spier (X)

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

blue-grey natural limestone stair

Explanation:
An example of "pierre froide" is - "" la pierre de Ruoms – calcaire très dur, gris-bleu, classé dans la catégorie des pierres "froides";
(from Ardèche)
Maybe add the "local" dimension.

LesBrets
France
Local time: 05:08
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 4

1 hr confidence:

slate staircase

Explanation:
Your idea of shale was not far off. Shale is the parent rock of slate which is a popular natural material for stairs, and a selling point for old and new buildings/sites.

Reference: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:0V4esUf4XTEJ:www.landsca...

Susan Spier (X)
Local time: 23:08
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

hard limestone

Bourth (X)
Local time: 05:08
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 67

Grading comment

1 day 18 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

natural stone

Explanation:
As this is in a tourism context I'd forget the geological terms and make it sound as nice as possible eg 'an original interior staircase made from natural stone'

I don't think tourists would be interested in whether it's limestone or slate or whatever.

Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 04:08
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 45

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English translation: hard limestone

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