We are staying in a gite in Normandy for Christmas. In the gite description it says the gite has an "espace cuisine" this translates as "space kitchen." They have two descriptions one in French and one in English. They have translated it as "space kitchen" and the research I have done makes that translation a correct one. At first I thought it was an error and they really meant spacious kitchen. Now I'm not so sure. Can anyone enlighten me?

Buzzy

Buzzy, take it as "kitchen space" (where you can cook)and not "space kitchen". And this doesn't mean a "spacious" kitchen neither. Does this make clearer?

Hi Buzzy,

Following up Kite's remark, you have a portion of a room in which a kitchen area has been created.

Our recent rental had what we'd call a galley kitchen. It was a narrow space with appliances along a wall with cabinets above. It was short in length and narrow. It was okay for breakfast/lunch/snacks but preparing a dinner would be another matter.

As kite says, it just means that a small area of a larger room has been equipped with a stove and/or oven and some basic cooking tools. It is quite the opposite of a "spacious kitchen."

That's the problem with some of those translation sites, they can't handle phrases or context. They seem to use the word "espace" in France quite a lot now, it seems sort of trendy--it's used for all kinds of "spaces". It sounds like the gite owners just used a translation tool, also. I kind of doubt it will be high-tech and sort of Jetson-y.

It simply means a cooking area created in one part of a room, usually a living/dining room, not a separate kitchen. British equivalent would be a kitchenette, and in German Kochnische.

Thanks for all your replies. I feel a bit of an idiot now. I should have simply reversed the translation.

Buzzy

No need to feel like an idiot. Your translation was perfectly logical, and you had no way to know that an "espace cuissine" is exactly the contrary of what the name seems to imply.

They used to be called "kitchenette" here too, but I supppose renters found out that "espace cuisine" sounded more appealing.

So might it mean "Space Cuisine" as in: freeze dried turkey dinner, or *meal-in-a- pouch*?

In French, 'espace ___' translates as '____ space' in English. This means 'kitchen space' in English, which is a nice way of saying there is no official kitchen, probably. There will be a niche or alcove with a kitchen, but it will likely not be a separate room.

Hi

you'll probably have a corner kitchen.

The other common phrase is cuisine americaine which is a separate area separated by a bar, but open to the living room.

Bonne chance

Peter
The Languedoc Page
http://tlp.netfirms.com