Slowly (and I mean slowly) my French is improving and I am feeling more confident in my ability to communicate. But still, after seven years in France, shamefully, I can barely understand what the French are saying to me. Perversely, the more my accent improves, (and it is, apparently, pretty damn good!) the faster they speak back to me. One simply cannot win.
I persevere, hoping to improve by my own efforts using methods various, including some "Michel Thomas's" CD tutorials, learning useful phrases (Parrot fashion) and by translating the written word. But in the end the most important benefit to my learning is to have "total immersion" in the lingo with lots of contacts and social occasions with our French friends - easier said than done and without Lucie - impossible!
With newly found zeal, I have photographed the nine information tablets that are read by tourists who visit the Meilhan Tertre - the beautiful terrace, perched high above the village of Meilhan-sur-Garonne with 180 degree, panoramic views to the North over the rest of Aquitaine. Reached by climbing up exactly 119 steps from the Port- it provides a wonderful daily excercise for a man and his dogs.
I hope this information on the two canals - and of Meilhan - will be of interest to readers but, as you see, translating French into English is not an exact process - It really isn't all plain sailing, y'know!
Great photos from Mike Ricketts through flikr click on the word "sets" and then select the sets of interest to you.
Some other photos of Meilhan and around - just click on the word "Some"
Translation of the above tablet:
The Canal of Two Seas:
..which links the Atlantic to the Mediterranean consists of the Canal Du Midi (241 km and 63 locks) and the Canal Lateral a la Garonne (193km and 53 locks)
The Canal Du Midi, was begun by Pierre Paul Riquet, with its source in Toulouse and finishing in the Etang De Thau at Sete. Work began in 1666, it was finished in 1681 after the death of its founder. The Canal du Midi is the most ancient canal in Europe still working and is classed as an Unesco World Heritage Site.
The Canal Lateral a la Garonne was begun in 1838 and finished in 1856 thus alleviating the navigation problems on the river (Garonne) between Toulouse and Bordeaux. It follows on from the Canal Du Midi at the octagonal Basin at Toulouse and finishes by joining the river Garonne at Castet en Dorte.
The Canal was dug as far as Meilhan by 1841 and it took 4 months to blow up the rock face at Claux and this cliff is now visble (from here - ed) on the right of the departmental road below. The part of the canal which you see here is 175 kms from its source (Toulouse - ed).
Water based tourism, today is the principal activity of the Canal. This sector was one of the last commercial routes which persisted with the regular commercial barges.
View to the left from the Tertre (Northwest)
Translation of the above tablet:
The sight of the Marmandais area
Facing you, on the right bank of the Garonne, this fertile plain spreads out towards the village of Jusix which was linked with Meilhan in the past by boat and ferryman . A private donation was made at the start of the twentieth century for the construction of a bridge between the two communes, but the project came to nothing. One can see on the left bank the village of Coutures-sur-Garonne with its neo-romane church of the 19th Century and the new bridge (1979). Jusix and Couthures-sur-Garonne are particularly affected by the great river floods.
In the distance, you can just see the 19th century church in the market town of Sainte-Bazeille, then beyond that, the higher structure of the Marmande water tower, the county town of the district with its 14th century church and cloisters.
The hills are those of Castelnau-sur-Gupie and of Beaupuy, known for their wineries and the co-operative appellation "Cotes du Marmandais", the appellation which includes the Cave Cooperative de Cocument beside the river. Beyond the departmental road, you can see the the church of the 19th Century of Marcellus and, in the far distance, the hills of Tonneins and of Nicole.
Translation of the above:
The Breach of the English
Like the rest of Aquitaine, Meilhan became English in 1152 and remained thus for three centuries. In 1253, Meilhan was occupied, by order of the English King Henri III, who came to live here in 1254 with his son Prince Edward. The importance of the Tertre encouraged the Prince Edward to obtain Meilhan from the Albrets family. But the Albrets recovered Meilhan from Edward III in 1306 upon the intervention of (Pope?) Clement V.
In 1345, the Count of Derby, sent by Edward III to re-conquer Aquitaine assaulted the Fort of Meilhan which he found well endowed with both men and munitions. The defenders hurled iron bars and pots full of lime. Following this resistance, Derby changed strategy. He filled the ditches. Then he placed three hundred archers, within range, as cover for a further two hundred men with pickaxes, in order to breach the wall. The plan succeeded. After making an opening capable of allowing through ten men abreast - Derby took the Citadel.
Since that day, the stairway leading down to the Roque neighbourhood at the base of the cliff, from the Tertre, is known as "La Breche des Anglais"106 steps down to the Canal Lateral a la Garonne and cycle track, from Le Tertre
Translation of the above tablet:
An early Meilhanaise Industry:
Mother of Pearl Buttons
It was in 1867 that the production was begun in Meilhan, but it really took off in 1900 with three workshops employing twenty workers. From 1908 to 1913, production grew rapidly and employed over a hundred workers. In 1914, when the Great War broke out, Meilhanais workers sent to the front were replaced by refugees. The war caused a drop in orders and put the three workshops in trouble. After the war, the revival of making buttons failed: two workshops closed in 1920 and the last in 1923.
The raw material for the buttons was originally mother of pearl shells, clams or cascouilles from the Garonne . But when production grew in importance, shellfish became scarce and it was necessary to import them from America and Japan.
The shells were cut with milling cutters with different diameters to obtain buttons of several dimension. Being of different thickness, they were passed through machinery to shape and emboss them. Finally they were polished and sewn on to cards for sale.
Looking North East from the Tertre
There is absolutely no sign of this castle now and the above picture is therefore a "reconstruction" of what it must have been like....
Translation of the above tablet:
The Citadelle of Meilhan
This castle was originally built with four turrets as defence from any attack of that time. Thanks to strong walls flanked by fourteen bastions, two covered walkways and two towers - Meilhan commanded all the low plain beneath it and there was a saying, "Who sees Meilhan is not inside it"
During the hundred years war, battles against the English caused grave damage to these fortifications. But the final blow came from Richelieu, in 1622, who demolished the remains of the citadel by Matignon, Marshal Louis X111. The pits were insane in 1726. What remained of the ancient castle was finally broken up in 1814. Some of the remains of the castle remain in the street of the same name where a tower still stands square with a medieval arched door breeze height floor.
(I need to make more sense of this ..ed!)
Translation of the above Tablet:
Just past the Ferrand bridge, on the canal - a stone bridge dating from the creation of the canal and re-enforced in 1996 - one finds the tourist complex..... (The Port and camping facility.. ed).....
....can't wait to do the rest of this translation ....watch this space and, I suspect, you'll see a lot of corrections!