Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Painting is a subject/project with which I am intimately concerned these days! Evidently the paint is a bit different here, due to the stone/cement walls (i.e. no plasterboard). There are also various paints for the specific surface you're painting: walls, wood, metal.

Wall paint comes in three finishes: mat, satin and brillant - basically equivalent to mat, semi-gloss and gloss. If you're painting on bare walls, or if you're covering one kind of paint with another, it's a good idea (I learned this the hard way!) to start with a coat of "sous-couche" - basically sealer. It's the only way that "mono-couche" (i.e. one coat) paint will live up to the promise.

For removing wall paper, get a cheap (and they are cheap) steamer. But if you insist, what you're looking for is called Les décolleurs de papier peint.

Leroy Merlin has a nice set of "how to" files and videos on painting: Peinture | Leroy Merlin And I've found that working my way through those is a great way to pick up the vocabulary you need for hitting the shops.

You'll also find a whole range of "textured paints" and there is a process with wax (cire) that gives you a texture on your walls when painting. Plus they have a white wallpaper of sorts that some people put on their walls before painting, again to give some texture to the painted walls. I've never messed with this, but all the hardware stores seem to have lots of information available on how to do this kind of thing.
Cheers,
Bev