Mad as a gannet
Jul. 14th, 2011 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustSince it is the quatorze juillet - the fête nationale, and since we have already marked the occasion with a bottle of French wine - a bottle of Jasnières Domaine de Cézin which I think must have come from Helen, and which was a perfect equilibrium of fruit and tartness, perfume and body (the producers claim withered roses, honey and dried quince), and held its own, as I hoped it would, against a dish of pork and paprika...
Where was I? Oh, yes, a post about France seems in order - and the next report from our Breton trip also follows neatly on from my last post, because it seems that they have puffins in France, too.
I was going to say 'but they don't make a fuss about them', but that's not quite true, either: the logo of the LPO, the equivalent of the RSPB, shows a couple of puffins. Given that they are only found in this one corner of the Hexagon, I'd say that's an acknowledgement of their pulling power.
Nonetheless, puffin mania doesn't seem to dominate as it does in those parts of Britain where they are found. This shop in Quimper lured customers in with a rack of cute furry seagulls (cute furry singing seagulls), no puffins in evidence.
And somewhere along the north coast we picked up a leaflet about boat trips to the islands. It does include some pictures of puffins, but the main emphasis is on the gannets: "Un spectacle fou!" promises the front cover, a wild spectacle, and a play on the name 'fou de Bassan'. I don't know why gannets are madmen, or where (or what) Bassan is - this page claims that the name comes from the abrupt way they dive down into the water, and that they were so called by Scottish fishermen, who were the first to observe their behaviour (in French?). But then, I don't know why the French for a puffin is 'macareux moine', either: it is suggested that the 'moine' bit, like the 'fratercula' of the Latin name, compares the bird's dark coat to that of a monk - but 'macareux' remains mysterious.
Where was I? Oh, yes, a post about France seems in order - and the next report from our Breton trip also follows neatly on from my last post, because it seems that they have puffins in France, too.
I was going to say 'but they don't make a fuss about them', but that's not quite true, either: the logo of the LPO, the equivalent of the RSPB, shows a couple of puffins. Given that they are only found in this one corner of the Hexagon, I'd say that's an acknowledgement of their pulling power.Nonetheless, puffin mania doesn't seem to dominate as it does in those parts of Britain where they are found. This shop in Quimper lured customers in with a rack of cute furry seagulls (cute furry singing seagulls), no puffins in evidence.
And somewhere along the north coast we picked up a leaflet about boat trips to the islands. It does include some pictures of puffins, but the main emphasis is on the gannets: "Un spectacle fou!" promises the front cover, a wild spectacle, and a play on the name 'fou de Bassan'. I don't know why gannets are madmen, or where (or what) Bassan is - this page claims that the name comes from the abrupt way they dive down into the water, and that they were so called by Scottish fishermen, who were the first to observe their behaviour (in French?). But then, I don't know why the French for a puffin is 'macareux moine', either: it is suggested that the 'moine' bit, like the 'fratercula' of the Latin name, compares the bird's dark coat to that of a monk - but 'macareux' remains mysterious.
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Date: 2011-07-17 08:47 am (UTC)But, revolution day is over and actually they are nice neighbours, albeit a bit loud. Sometimes I just start laughing when they get going but always waved in a friendly way from my balcony and greeted them right from the start. So they sweep the pavement in front of our house, too while at it but not in front of that of the architect´s bureau where one guy works who came over and complained about the loudness. I think they are Sinti and Roma who are used to talk that way over great distances but not used to live in flats close to other people, maybe.
"Macareux" sounds as if that were one of the bird´s favourite dishes, maybe? Or is that too simple a thought and probably just because I love them in tomato sauce straight from the tin, myself! The fish dish, I mean.
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Date: 2011-07-18 02:20 pm (UTC)