translation of " des patins à parquet" into English

Question

"Par exemple, aussitôt que nos parents nous avaient déposés chez elle, elle nous faisait troquer nos baskets flambant neuves pour des patins à parquet qui empestaient le dépoussiérant et la cire."

My translating tool says that "des patins à parquet" are "floor gliders." Anyone have any idea what kind of shoes they might be?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Adrienne, 
Just to add to Maarten's excellent answer, the word 'patins'  made me smile too as I had a very houseproud aunty who insisted that we wore these felt overshoes when visiting.  I am not sure if these actually exist in Britain where wall-to-wall carpets ruled the day or in the USA. Whereas in France, wooden floors were more the norm.
If you need a picture, take a look at one I found at random -
https://www.quincaillerie-demortain.com/patins_d-appartement__p267226.html
Hope these help!

Maarten Kamp · Answer

Adrienne, the discussion on wordreference will help, and some internet photos of traditional flat patins à parquet, and more ‘modern’ patins .

Apart from looking on the net, I can ask my wife about items like this. The question brought a reminiscing smile to her face, childhood memories. They were routinely used indoors, when keeping shoes on and especially if visiting someone - and mostly just referred to as ‘patins’. I am sure French children would never have used them to have fun sliding on the floors with, but I sure would have ! (Actually, I know at least one French ‘former child’ who did)

https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/patins-parquet.3633173/

https://www.cookina.fr/brosserie-produits-menagers/524-2-patins-pour-parquet.html

https://www.cdiscount.com/bricolage/r-patin+pour+parquet.html#_his_

Anne Davies · Answer

Just to add to Maarten’s hilarious links, if you look up patin d’appartement on French Amazon, the reviews are full of similar memories of wearing them chez aunties and grannies!